The United States is at a critical turning point. Clashing political ideologies, pandemic anxiety, mass protests and civil unrest have come to define 2020.

Imagine, for a moment, waking up in 2030 to a country you no longer recognize.

Democracy in the United States has crumbled, poverty is rampant, and every night in bed you hear gunfire in the street as clashing groups fight over scarce resources. Eventually your home is destroyed, and armed insurgents demand your last bit of savings in exchange for protection.

You are left with two options: stay in the US and risk your family’s safety, or flee to another country to seek sanctuary. You take the only viable option, not knowing what will happen, only that you must leave.

Imagine you arrive in a new country and are greeted by armed, hostile government officials. You try to explain that you are a refugee, that you fear for your family’s lives, but they are no help. Before you know what’s happening, you are separated from your spouse and children, put in handcuffs, driven to a remote prison, and left there with no explanation of what is to come.

Days, weeks, and months go by. You are finally allowed to plead your case in front of a judge. In broken English, they tell you that your case has been denied. You barely understand. You wonder why. You wonder about your family and if they are safe. Why are you still imprisoned? Will you ever be released? You wonder if you have been forgotten. A voice in your head repeats over and over:

“I’m still here.”

I’m Still Here: Voices from detention

Right now, thousands of people are in this exact situation, stuck in detention facilities that are indistinguishable from prisons. With no money and no access to the outside world, they are forced to plead their case to an immigration judge without any legal knowledge or representation. They have become wards of the state, living in limbo, out of legal options, stripped of all agency, and treated like criminals.

Over the next six weeks, AIR wants to introduce you to the people who have survived detention, and some who are still stuck there.

While representing other clients in these facilities, our attorneys began hearing these stories over and over again. We refused to sit back and do nothing; AIR is now one of the only agencies in the Southeast representing detainees, and we need your help.

As we tell their stories, we hope you will feel the same sense of obligation that we did.

In sharing their experiences, we hope to raise enough funds to represent 25 additional clients in detention free of charge. It will cost us about $30,000 to do this work.

Help us write the next chapter.

As Americans, we share strong convictions about our own rights to freedom and self determination. We believe that one is innocent until proven guilty. We believe that everyone deserves a fair chance.

Help us advocate for those who have been denied these basic rights.

Donate to support their legal defense

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