Detainees and Deportees: The Missing Voices in the Immigration Debate

Access Washington is a new teleconference series offered by New America Media to ethnic media, linking them with experts and lawmakers on immigration law reform. Viji Sundaram is a reporter for New America Media. For more information on Access Washington, contact Sandip Roy (sroy[at]newamericamedia[dot]org).

Ever since her mother was deported to Mexico three months ago, 23-year-old Luissana Santibanez has been the sole caregiver to her three teen siblings, the oldest 14, even as she struggles to complete her undergraduate program at the University of Texas in Austin.

I am forced to raise my siblings without the love and guidance of the one person we need most in our lives, said Santibanez in a moving testimonial at an immigration teleconference June 1 intended to showcase such missing voices as hers in the current immigration debate. I cry almost every night because I am not able to fill the void.

The teleconference was jointly organized by New America Media and Detention Watch Network (DWN).

According to Andrea Black, DWNs coordinator, 1.6 million immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have been swept up by the Department of Homeland Security since 1994, detained at a cost of $1.2 million per year, and sent back to their home countries.

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