"Alexandra Alvarez holds her 11-month-old baby surrounded by photographs of her husband. Photo by Dean Moses Ecuadorian native Alexandra Alvarez, 44, sat in her cramped Queens apartment holding her cellphone close to her mouth, waiting to hear her husband's voice crackle from the other end of the line. Her mother and 11-month-old daughter sat across the room, divided by a mattress, the child's cries sporadically interrupting the expectant silence."
"Alvarez's husband, 46-year-old Manuel Mejia Hernandez, has been separated from his family for over a month after he was detained by masked federal agents inside 26 Federal Plaza on Oct. 22. During the government shutdown, Alvarez told amNewYork, Hernandez was sent out of New York without warning or explanation to a detention center in Texas before finally ending up in Arizona. In a week, they were transferred without anyone knowing, without being registered in the system; they went to Texas, Alvarez said."
"He told Alvarez and amNewYork that he has been forced to wear the same clothes for weeks at a time through the initial processing procedure, and had not had a shower for more than a week. You spend time in the same clothes for one week, two weeks, until they process you. With the same clothes, Hernandez said, adding that guards ignore questions until all detainees are processed. They give you a hairbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant. When they process, they give you all that."
Alexandra Alvarez, 44, sits in a cramped Queens apartment holding her 11-month-old daughter and photographs of her husband. Her husband, 46-year-old Manuel Mejia Hernandez, was detained by masked federal agents at 26 Federal Plaza on Oct. 22 and has been separated from his family for over a month. During a government shutdown he was moved without warning or registration from New York to a Texas detention center and later to Arizona, more than 2,330 miles away. Communication is limited to calls permitted by the facility. Hernandez reports being forced to wear the same clothes for weeks, lacking showers, and experiencing delayed processing while guards ignore detainee questions.
Read at www.amny.com
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