On Saturday, March 8, a woman named Sarahi hopped into the car with her two kids and her 19-year old brother to drive from their home in Detroit, Michigan to do some shopping at the local Costco and get some lunch.
A few minutes into the drive, the GPS instructed them to turn onto the Ambassador Bridge, which is a one-way toll road that connects the U.S. and Canada. Sarahi says she quickly realized her mistake as American immigration agents approached — they’d accidentally typed in directions to the Costco in Windsor, Ontario, on the Canadian side of the border.
Accidentally driving onto the Ambassador Bridge to Canada from the Detroit-area is a common mistake. Locals say it’s an area that is always under construction and can be confusing.
But for Sarahi, it was a life-altering wrong turn: she and her brother are both Guatemalan immigrants in the U.S. without legal status. She requested NPR only use her first name because she fears retaliation for speaking with the media.
For the next five days, Sarahi said she and her children were held in a windowless office space, in a one story building between the toll plaza and the bridge, with no access to legal counsel or communication with her consulate.
Her two daughters, ages 1 and 5, are both American citizens. As a result of that wrong turn, she says her family lived through a nightmare that “felt like a kidnapping.”
This take would be more relevant if they weren’t also detaining people who do have lawful status.
Are you talking about the children that were entirely dependent on their parents that are illegal immigrants? What else would they do? Would you prefer them to be brought to an orphanage?
Nope. Talking about all the other people being detained for no reason. Like the tourists, students, and people on legit work visas.