Upbeat Update !

To follow through on the recent happenings with one of my students who was arrested and held since two days before Christmas..... I visited her at the Del Valle 'detention facility' yesterday afternoon. She is an amazingly resilient woman given the potentially life altering situation she finds herself in now. Having been unceremoniously 'picked up' from her apartment at 5 AM by local police and since held at Del Valle, she has been challenged at every turn by a series of confusing realities that require complex decision making. At this point she has a public defender who fortunately has expertise in her dual jeopardy criminal/immigration dilemma who hopes to achieve a U VISA status for her, allowing her to remain in the US with her children. Having passed on any and all information that I could glean from the American Gateways representatives, it was such a relief to find that she had been able to effectively advocate for herself even as a limited English speaker. Her attitude is that she "has to do something while I'm in here", having signed up for in house ESL classes toward pursuing her GED! For the first time since the arrest, she was able yesterday to see her young children (ages 5 and 3)explaining to the question of the eldest that she is at a "special school" where they need all the police to keep robbers from stealing their books! Very resourceful in such an emotional circumstance. I found her "glass as half full" perspective an incredible testament to maternal capacity to handle a crisis with aplomb. The boy was barraging her with questions and she thinks she 'sold' him with her explanation, at least for now.
Her court case is not until February 23rd by which time she will have been in custody for 2 full months; full on mom torture! She has been bolstered by phone calls/texts from close friends and will now be receiving mail from myself as well as her classmates, all of whom are seriously concerned that this has occurred to someone they know. She is hopeful that others will visit her personally as there is such a long time yet remaining for her detention. Unfortunately she cannot take advantage of getting out on bail because she would then be picked up by ICE and sent to immigration detention within a much more restrictive environment where communications and legal assistance would be further limited.
This is not an uncommon occurrence in Texas, we need to be well informed as to available resources for our students. All the more important then that we maintain our roles as positive mentor advocates for our capable but vulnerable student population.
AmeriCorps folks have knowledge, advocacy potential and heart!