Life in Detention, interviews with Immigrant Detainees
Below are excerpts from various interviews with former immigrant detainees. They share their life before detention, as well experiences and insight into life in detention in Arizona. Click the audio files to learn more.
Diana Ramos
Diana Ramos fled El Salvador because of the abuse she endured at the hands of her common-law husband. In 2003, Ramos came to the United States by way of the Sonoran Desert. Ramos worked in fast food before starting her own taxi-business. In 2010, when Arizona passed SB 1070, Diana Ramos was stopped by ICE. They asked her to produce identification at a gas station where she was going to pick up customers. After being held for over four years at Eloy Detention Center, Diana was finally reunited with her family.
Food and Work Life in Detention
3:05
Hygiene
Most Impactful Moment in Detention
Juan Miguel
Soon after the implementation of SB 1070, Juan Miguel was deported back to his country of orgin, Mexico. He attempted to reunite with his family but faced deportation multiple times. After being kidnapped and subjected to forced labor, Juan Miguel asked for political asylum at the border. As a result, he spent eight months in detention in Eloy, Arizona. After the death of fellow detainee Jose de Jesús Sahagún, Juan led a hunger strike that raised much attention to the detention center. A month after the strike, Juan Miguel was placed in solitary confinement and was unable to receive visits from his family.