From Visiting Dad in Prison to Meeting Lawmakers in Washington
By Elijah Cabrera
My name is Elijah Cabrera, and I am 17 years old. This fall I will be starting my senior year in high school. I’m writing to tell you about my firsthand experience as an affected family member of someone who’s been through the criminal justice system. I think more people should know about the criminal justice system because of how harsh the sentences are and how hard it is on the families when people are gone from home for so long.
My dad was in prison for 10 years. Because of the First Step Act, in 2021 he got a second chance and came home a little early. Now my family is all back together and able to function properly again.
My dad missed a large chunk of my childhood. I didn’t have him there to teach me how to be a man, do father and son things with me, and just be there to have that father and son relationship. Yes, there were visits, and my mother and I visited him tons of times throughout the years that he was incarcerated. But the visits just didn’t have the same effect as him being with us all the time, being at home with us, me getting to spend time with him. This affected my mom and me in many ways. It often made me sad and angry only being able to talk to him through short visits and phone calls, which were both limited.
In December of 2023, our whole family went to Washington, D.C., to celebrate five years of the First Step Act and meet with lawmakers to encourage them to do more reform. I love Washington, and when I heard the news that we were going to be able to go there not just to visit and look around the city but to also talk to lawmakers about reform, I was stoked and very excited. We were able to be tourists, look at the White House and all around the city, and even go into the Capitol, where lawmakers and people who work in the government go. There, we were able to meet and talk to multiple people who helped make it possible for my dad to come home early.
One of the people we met with was Sen. Chuck Grassley. He talked to us about how he helped to get the First Step Act passed, and how he is going to continue to do more to help more people get free. It was very touching and I loved getting to meet with him and other lawmakers, plus learn about how they helped and are continuing to help set people free and get their lives back again. We were able to thank them for the reform they did, plus encourage them to do more.
Being there in the nation’s capital with my dad made me feel very good. It made me feel that he is actually free and happy that I’m able to be with him again because of those people who we met. It was an awesome experience, and I would love to go again to represent the families of the people behind bars to get a second chance like my dad did.
Many people in prison are serving outdated sentences, or they have changed and are a whole different person than they were when they first got incarcerated. We need to keep getting the word out so that lawmakers will do more reform and get people out of prison who don’t deserve to be there anymore — or even at all.
Last year at Father’s Day, my dad wrote about he felt being free and home with me. This year, I thought I’d share my side of it — I think it’s important for people to hear from the kids impacted by the system. I believe that if we all work together, we can change the justice system for good. We can give other families a second chance to be happy again.
Elijah Cabrera lives in California. He loves welding and the rodeo. This is his second year in welding class at school, and he hopes to make it a career. He has a part-time job at a restaurant supply business and helps with the family business. He loves to travel, partly due to his experiences advocating with FAMM in Washington.
Want to help families like Elijah’s and fight for change? Join FAMM today.
