Pacific Standard featured the story of Vilma Carrillo Carrillo, a Tahirih client who was detained and separated from her daughter when they arrived at the U.S. to seek asylum. Vilma was not reunited with her daughter like many other separated families because her daughter is U.S. citizen. Families were reunified in detention centers, and U.S. citizens cannot be detained in such facilities.
“We’re also wondering how many other people are affected,” said Shana Tabak, Tahirih Atlanta Executive Director. “Just through immigration lawyer networks, I can say anecdotally, I know of a couple of handfuls of other cases. From talking to other lawyers, I get the sense there are several dozen out there. Each one is a unique case and they’re not being centrally tracked by anyone.”
