On the dusty outskirts of small-town Dilley, Texas, out of the sight of drivers traversing I-35, lies the South Texas Family Residential Center and the 2,400 beds it maintains for its temporary inhabitants: immigrant mothers and their children escaping desperate situations in their home countries. Many of these families come from Central America’s Northern Triangle— El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala—fleeing widespread gang violence and aggressive domestic situations. They arrive at the U.S. border seeking safety for their children and themselves. In January, a group of Fordham Law students traveled to the center to help the women prepare for their meeting with an asylum officer, an interview that could potentially save their lives.
Emerson Argueta ’18 and Alex Mintz ’18, two of the students with Fordham Law’s Immigration Advocacy Project, speak about their experiences in Dilley.