Jews in the D

18 | JANUARY 16 • 2020

it was hard to prove.
Kaluzny said when they vis-
ited, only 19 of the 1,000 men
being held there had any crim-
inal record.
She said the detainees have
little privacy or freedom of
movement; even access to
showers and bathrooms was
monitored.
She added that detainees are
allowed fresh air two hours
per day. There are scheduled
meals. They can choose to
make a phone call, however, a
two-minute phone call costs
more than $1, which is more
than they earn for a full day’
s
work, Kaluzny said.
As the HIAS group toured
the facility guided by Otero’
s
warden and ICE officials,
Kaluzny felt the prepared
responses to their questions
did not reflect the reality they
were seeing. She said they had
no individual conversations
with the detainees.
“I walked out of there think-
ing that I was being told (by
the warden and by the ICE
officials) to not believe what
my eyes are seeing and ears are
hearing,” Kaluzny said. “The
language our escorts used and
how they described the place
to us made it sound like Otero
was a place (the detainees)
were grateful to be, but this
was not how it appeared.”
At Otero, the group
observed men confined in
an infirmary through a glass
window, saw where they
could sit at chairs and speak
into a phone that was snaked
through a hole in the glass,
and saw a solitary confinement

cell where men were fed meals
through a slot.
One of the rabbis was a
native of Venezuela and could
communicate a few sentences
to the detainees in Spanish as
well as serve as a translator
during meetings with those in
Mexico.
“In the brief moments we
were there, the best we could
do was exchange a smile and
communicate to them that
we were there not to hurt or
embarrass them,” Kaluzny said.

CIUDAD JUAREZ
In Ciudad Juarez, officials
from the Mexico Protection
Program toured the group
through the Leona Vicario
Shelter that houses 650 people
(with only 250 beds), 40 per-
cent of whom are minors.
There, Mexico treats them
as humanely as possible, pro-
viding them with shelter, food
and clothing as well as hygien-
ic facilities. The main down-
sides: Though they all had
already presented for asylum,
they must wait in Mexico for
their hearings in U.S. immi-
gration court and, if they leave
the encampment, they fear
for their lives from the drug
cartels.
Here, families are sheltered
in bunk beds and children
receive some education. Some
will venture outside the com-
pound to find work in town
and there is a daycare center,
but many fear for their lives
from the drug cartels and do
not leave, Kaluzny said.
Despite the language barrier,
she did have the opportunity

to interact with the children,
some who came up to the rab-
bis to receive hugs.
“I saw moms nursing babies
and other children fast asleep
in their exhausted parents’

arms. I wondered if they were
getting everything they need, ”
Kaluzny said.
“When I saw them, I saw us.
I wanted them to know they
have been seen and heard. You
don’
t walk thousands of miles
and leave all that is familiar
for any other reason besides
wanting to give your family a
chance at safety, stability and
opportunity.”
Now that she is back home,
Kaluzny said that this year she
hopes to teach a course about
immigration through a Jewish

lens based on materials pro-
vided by the Pardes Institute
of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.
But, mainly, the best thing she
can do is to keep talking about
what she saw at the border and
encourage her peers, families
and friends to keep the con-
versation going at home.
“Even though there is less
news coverage of this issue,
it is still happening,” Kaluzny
said. “It is far from resolved
and we need to keep this as an
issue in the front of people’
s
minds.
“
As Jews, we must always
remember and welcome the
stranger. This is a human issue
and we need to give them a
voice.”

RABBI JENNIFER KALUZNY

Traffic was heavy at
t
he border between
Mexico and the U.S.

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