1/21 Follow this thread for a glimpse, in 21 tweets, of what it’s like to pay bond for someone in ICE detention. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
2/21 Arrive at Federal Bldg at 7:30am. Short line w/ terrified looking family in front. Kid has Spider-Man doll with him. Security officer makes ‘joke’ that toys not allowed. ‘Didn’t you hear about bomb that was hidden in a doll?’ #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
3/21 Got thru 'airport security' to the 9th floor - where there’s a sign that ICE offices moved to floor 5. While in temp office, can't accept phone inquiries about ICE bonds or reporting. People have to come in person to ask ?s. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
4/21 On 5th floor by 8am. Waiting room has security guard at door and chairs facing windows so folks backs are to everyone working. Signs ‘decorate’ the gray carpet gray wall room laying out the rules: ‘no eating or drinking’, ‘no cell phone use’, #iceout #immigrationdetention
5/21 ...‘paying bond takes a long time’, etc. Bond office is open from 8:30-3, with a sign emphasizing ‘no Bonds excepted after 3pm. no exceptions.’ “No exceptions” is in quotes. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
6/20 Waiting room is shared by folks paying bonds & folks with looks ranging from despair 2 resignation, reporting for ICE check-ins. People are asked for paperwork and told 'have a seat and wait for your name to be called.' #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
7/20 Security Officer sits by door and yells at people who use phones. By 9:30am there are 50 people in room, many with gps monitors on their ankles. Occasionally an agent sticks head out from behind partition & yells a last name. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
8/20 No bathrooms on 5th floor. The cafeteria and bathroom are on the 6th but folks don’t want to leave in case their name is called. No sense of when name may be called. I fill out papers for paying bond by 8:45am and told to wait #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
9/20 One man gets berated by ice agent in front of everyone, for not bringing a lawyer. Agent tells him to sit down and he’ll get to him. Walking away, agent says "I’m done with you. It is what it is. Simple minds." #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
10/20 I sit near the bond desk and wait. My blue scarf, made by a youth group in Afghanistan and brought back by a friend, which reads ‘Border Free’ in English and Pashto, draped over my bag. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
11/20 About 1/2 the people who have come to pay bonds don’t have the correct ID or information to be able to do it. When folks have to fill out paperwork, they are given pens with red plastic spoons taped to them. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
12/20 One woman comes to check on status of bond. Told that the person who she posted for missed a report date & bond is forfeited. Told there is 650$ appeal cost, & “You lost your money. But if you appeal, what do you think is gonna happen?” #iceout #immigrationdetention
13/20 I see family from earlier. Kid doesn’t have the toy Spider-Man he had on line. One two men at the desk where people give names & numbers for ICE check-ins wears a large wood cross on necklace resting on shirt. Un-ironically. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
14/20 My name is called and I review bond papers. Seem correct except they add ‘info from their system’ Person I’m paying 4 was arrested in profiling stop and is challenging information gathered as result. I’m told again to wait. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
15/21 The man earlier berated by agent is called again. Most conversations occur behind partition, but this one is again in open. “You’re gonna report every single month, so I hope you have no plans. You can check in. You can pay taxes. It doesn’t matter, you’re illegal."#iceout
16/21 Man says he tried to contact 3 lawyers they gave him, but they didn’t respond. Agent says ‘that sounds like your problem, not mine.’ #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
17/21 A young woman here to translate for Aunt & Uncle as they try to pay bond is called. Told, inexplicably, that Uncle has to wait outside, not in the waiting room but in the Hall. while the bond agent talks to her and her aunt. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
18/21 My cellphone rings while I’m waiting. Unknown # + I’m not allowed to use phone while sitting here. Rings again so I go to hallway to pick up. It’s the ICE agent for the man I am posting for calling from Varick Street. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
19/21 He wants to confirm the address of the person I'm paying for. The paperwork is left at my seat - in the room where I can’t be on the phone. He says he’ll call back. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
20/21 He also wants to know why the phone # on the form for the person in ICE custody isn’t working. I try to explain - gently - that he can’t pay his phone bill while in ICE custody, so the phone won’t be on until he's out. #iceout #immigrationdetention #ImmigrationReform
21/21 10:40am. They call my name and give me paperwork back. "The person will be released between 6-10pm." I ask whether he will be given a coat when released. They say no. They are given whatever they had on when arrested. He was arrested in summer. It’s now January. *** #iceout
