'I Was Taken To A Huge Cage'

One Salvadoran Teenager Recounts Being Separated From Her Mother And Detained At The U.S.–Mexico Border In June

- Kayla Webley Adler

Over the summer, as the U.S. separated nearly 3,000 children from their parents under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, activists gained access to detention centers to make sure the kids were being cared for properly. One such watchdog was Michelle Brané, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program at the New York City-based Women’s Refugee Commission, who spent time in immigration processing centers in McAllen, Texas. She was there to monitor conditions and treatment of children under the Flores Settlement Agreement, a 1997 court decision that requires the government to maintain a certain quality of life for detained minors and release them without unnecessary delay. While there, Brané encountered a 16-year-old girl from El Salvador caring for a little girl from Honduras whom she had met inside the cage. The teen, who asked that we not use her name to protect herself and her family, all of whom are undocumented, told her story exclusively to Marie Claire:

I first came to the U.S. from El Salvador with my mom when she was 19 and I was 3. We left because of the gangs. A neighbor called my grandfather, who lives in Detroit, and told him gang members were looking for us. Gangs don’t beat around the bush. When they say they are going to kill you, they do it. We left the next day.

Six weeks later, we reached the Rio Grande river. I remember the coyotes put us on a pool float and said, “Don’t look up and don’t move, because if you do, you’re going to fall,” and I nodded. When we got to the other side two minutes later, the guy was like, “My job here is done.” My mom said, “Well, what do we do now?” and he replied, “You walk.”