Andrea stood outside her Florida apartment with her 8-year-old son waiting for police to arrive one Sunday night in February. She had called the cops after a fight with her boyfriend became physical. She said she had bruises on her face and neck, but the cops arrested her and took her to a county jail in Orlando.
Her family posted her bond, but Andrea wasn’t released. She told HuffPost she kept asking the officers why she was still in jail, but they didn’t give her any information. She was scared and confused. She had never spent a night in jail before. When the cops finally told her she was being released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Andrea had a panic attack.
Andrea, 32, who is being identified with a pseudonym because she fears for her safety, was born in Argentina and moved to the U.S. when she was 3 years old. She has lived in the U.S. essentially her entire life, and is currently a Green Card holder with permanent resident status.
Immigration policies aren’t just politics — they’re personal. At HuffPost, we explore the human stories behind the headlines, reporting on how immigration laws impact real people and communities. Support this vital coverage by joining our membership program today.
When ICE arrived at the county jail, all Andrea could think about was her three kids: her 8-year-old, 2-year-old and her 3-month-old who she was breastfeeding at the time. I need to be with my kids, she kept thinking.
ICE shackled Andrea’s wrists, ankles and waist, and loaded her onto a bus with a group of other immigrants headed to Krome Detention Center ― a men’s detention center in Miami with a long history of allegations of inhumane conditions and sexual abuse, according to Human Rights Watch.
When they arrived, Andrea said she and about 30 other women were kept in a small room meant for visitors because it was the only way to separate them from the larger male population. She had no bed, no shower, no access to the outdoors. There were no windows in the visitation room, making it impossible to tell what time of day it was. The women were repeatedly denied access to a shower because officers said it was a male-only facility with nowhere for women to bathe.
Andrea wasn’t given a breast pump, so she had to expel her breast milk on her own. The facility provided menstrual pads, but supplied the room of more than two dozen women with only 15 pads at a time. There were cameras directly above the toilets, which the women had to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Women…