Nancy

Who is being caught in the crosshairs of the cruelty of this administration? Families. Parents and children. Like Nancy, a young mother in her 20s, and her 5-year-old daughter, who arrived in a Texas family immigration prison after being detained by ICE agents in tactical gear who raided a grocery store.

Nancy and her daughter fled Ecuador more than two years ago and arrived at a U.S. port of entry in pursuit of asylum. She speaks only Quichua, the most widely spoken indigenous language in South America but one rarely accommodated in detention, and fears returning to her homeland. She also fears dying.

She has uterine cysts that are at risk of becoming cancerous without her medication; she has been prescribed eight pills a day for her condition. In the past few weeks, her pain has continued to worsen, and she has been unable to sleep. She is at risk of paralysis or of bleeding out. Hers is just one of more than 300 medical concerns RAICES has logged on behalf of detained families in the last three months alone.

RAICES has advocated for her release on medical grounds, but apparently little moves swiftly when lives are on the line. Fearing death, or separation from her daughter by the U.S. government, Nancy accepted the fate of their deportation. And yet, several days have passed, and they remain in U.S. custody, at an estimated rate of one thousand taxpayer dollars each day — and still without access to her medication.

This is the Trump administration’s vision for America. A nation where due process is abandoned and fear takes root in our communities. Where families live in the shadows, out of fear of being brutally separated, detained, and disappeared. Where detention centers are sites of desperation, terror, and life or death choices no human should have to make.

ICE should not deny anyone the medical care they deserve — and access to care should not be the deciding factor for whether someone gets a chance to fight for their case to stay in the country they call home.