Jun 16, 2021
Oscar’s Testimony
[On June 9th, 2021, Oscar testified at a Farmville Town Council meeting to ask them to end their agreement with ICE and help shut down the detention center for good. Just two days later, on June 11th, he was notified that he would be deported. This is his testimony.]
My name is Oscar Hernandez. I am detained here in Farmville. First of all, we all have been locked up here for more than a year. We are all sick and have serious mental health issues. We have families and small children who need us. The treatment here is inhumane. They treat us worse than animals. We feel humiliated and discriminated against in everything.
The facility contracts new personnel, they train them here using us. Many are racist and yell at us. We feel very marginalized. We make complaints but they don’t change anything. Our stories don’t leave the dorms. They just talk among themselves and nothing changes — or sometimes gets worse. Some of them retaliate against us after we raise complaints. We are very stressed. We have depression, anxiety, and are stressed constantly. We don’t matter to them or to ICE. They don’t even let us sleep in peace. Up to 6 people gather in our dorms — officials, making a lot of noise, talking and laughing a lot, very loudly. When we ask them to be quiet, they look at each other and laugh. They say ok, but then a little while later the same thing happens. We feel they are mocking us. We make complaints but they don’t change anything.
Another issue is the medical staff. Many times they have given us different medicines or the wrong medications. We have to pay attention each time to make sure they’re giving us the right medicine. I went to talk to the mental health counselor and she didn’t do her job. She made everything worse. She started talking to me about my immigration case and told me it was better for me to return to my country, El Salvador. Not only here in the United States, there are other opportunities. I could go to Mexico and other places. She made me feel so bad my eyes started to fill up with tears. I told her to drop the topic and that I didn’t want to speak with her anymore. She said that that was fine, and in a mocking tone, said “when you want to talk to me, come and find me and we’ll talk.” At the same time, I could tell she was making fun of me. I went there to get mental health support and came back worse than before. Now I don’t have anyone to talk to about my problems. I can’t talk to anyone about my mental health issues because I feel that I’m the subject of mockery.
I have suffered so much ever since I was a child. And I’ve recounted the majority of these things to this supposed counselor. Most of us here don’t want to talk to her because she is so arrogant with us while pretending to be nice. I’m really afraid she’ll tell another employee about my situation. Everything I suffered in my country isn’t easy and what we’ve talked about is sensitive information which if it came out, I would be at risk of discrimination and even death. I am very afraid ICE will retaliate against me and deport me. In my country, I will be cruelly assassinated by gangs or the police or other violent groups created by the government.
Another issue is the “recreation” options. They take us out for 3 hours on very hot days under the blazing sun. It’s so hot, and there is no way to cover ourselves from the sun. That is all the recreation we have here.
Given everything I’ve described, we ask for your help. We ask that you hear our voices. Please, we have young children who need us. We’ve already survived wars and a pandemic and now we’re still sick physically and mentally here. We all have different kinds of problems here and they don’t give us the help we need. We are only 22 people left here. Please help us. We can’t stand this confinement anymore. It is psychological torture. I want our voices to get to the high-ups in the government and respectfully ask for their help to get us out of this inhumane suffering we’re living through.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Oscar.
Free Them All VA is an abolitionist coalition centered around amplifying the organizing of those incarcerated in Virginia detention centers, jails, and prisons. Our demand to free them all has no asterisk. All means all.
