When Vilma Carrillo Carrillo sought asylum at the Arizona border, she was placed in detention and separated from her 11 year-old daughter. Tahirih is representing Vilma in her asylum case, and advocating for her release from detention so she can be reunited with her daughter. Teen Vogue spoke Tahirih Atlanta Executive Director, Shana Tabak, and actor Penn Badgley about Vilma’s case.
Badgley accompanied Tabak to visit Vilma in detention to learn more about her case and advocate for her release.
“The strange thing about our experience as Americans is we often don’t have personal contact with these stories of grave injustice, so [we] remain more or less desensitized. It wasn’t this incredible feeling of ‘you got to meet Vilma.’ If anything, I left feeling shame and frustration and impotence,” said Badgley.
