Visiting B-18: Lawyers and Loved Ones Fight for Access

In this episode of "Through the Labyrinth," an attorney and several family members of detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, talk to us about their experiences inside B-18, the agency’s main processing center in Southern California. 

Listeners get to hear firsthand accounts from family members both before and after visitation, providing an intimate look into the distress, burdens, and trauma shouldered by those trying to reunite with their loved ones and ensure their safety.

Guest Information

• Matthew Toyama: Lead Attorney for the Removal Defense Team at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles
• Sarah Houston: Managing Attorney for the Removal Defense Unit at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center
• Maribel Ruiz: Wife of ICE detainee
• Karla Ranck: Cousin of Maribel Ruiz

Fundraisers for Detained Family Members

• GoFundMe for Husband of Maribel Ruiz

Resources for Undocumented Immigrants and Mixed-Status Families in LA

• CHIRLA's Immigrant Assistance Line: Call (888)624-4752
• Know Your Rights Cards (English)
• Las Tarjetas de Conoce Tus Derechos (Spanish)
• Al Otro Lado: Legal and Humanitarian Support
• Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance: Outreach and Education
• Black Alliance for Just Immigration: Outreach and Education
• Esparanza Immigrant Rights Project: Community Programs and Direct Legal Representation

Host & Show Info

"Through the Labyrinth" is hosted by investigative journalist Morgan Keith. She now works as a professor and adviser for student media publications at Pierce College. She is also a co-founder of The Southlander.

Visit thesouthlander.com to subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on social media, and read our previous reporting.

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:05

I think the only pro right now was that he wasn't handcuffed, and that's when we felt relief in that aspect. But him being in there, it's not fair. He's been here his whole life for him to be just held in a cage as if he were an animal. I don't know. It's unfair.

Speaker 3 0:30

You're listening to Through the Labyrinth. I'm Morgan Keith, an investigative reporter with the Southlander. Join me as I take a closer look at the aftermath of the thousands of ice raids that unfolded across the greater Los Angeles area last summer. The path to reuniting with someone who was kidnapped by ICE involves a complicated web of government systems and legal processes. I want to take you through the labyrinth and provide a better understanding of just how difficult these circumstances are. Not just for those who are in custody, but also their families and communities. Nestled between Los Angeles City Hall and Union Station, just blocks away from the Olvera Street vendors, the Royal Federal Building houses an immigrant processing facility known as B-18. Behind the building and across the street on Temple and Alameda, a red, white, and blue mural by artist Barbara Kruger asks a poignant question to passersby. That's Matthew Toyama, the head of the removal defense unit for CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles.

Speaker 4:19

Yeah, I mean, so I before CHIRLA, just to give you more background, I've been practicing in immigration law and removal defenses specifically for most of my time as a lawyer. So that's almost nine years or almost ten years, about nine years. And so I started under the first Trump administration, and the problem has been like it coming back um online and this year, like very aggressively filling up again and processing a lot of people, like the numbers have already doubled.

Speaker 3 4:55

Um people looking for their family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors are experiencing more hurdles now that the detention machine is back up and running at full force. It is a system that is intentionally designed to make it difficult for anyone to find out where their loved ones are located, see them during visitation hours, and communicate with staff on site. Many of the immigrants detained in Southern California are taken to B-18 for their initial processing before being sent to a long-term detention center. For their families, it's a race against the clock to get there before they are transferred. And that's if they can even find the entrance to B-18, which is incredibly difficult to locate. It's a funny story. I actually went there um, I believe it's two weekends ago now, and I was honestly having trouble finding exactly where it was. So I was using um a TikTok that MDEF had posted of you. Yep, of you, yeah.

Speaker 4 5:53

I was gonna say Yeah.

Speaker 3 5:55

Sarah Houston, who you just heard, works as the managing attorney of the removal defense unit at the immigrant defenders law center. Most people call it MDEF for short. When I got completely turned around trying to find the entrance to B18, I turned to MDEF's social media pages for some help. Yeah, so your TikTok helped me find I I like matched the buildings in the background and was like, okay, I'm headed in the right direction. So that was wonderful.

Speaker 5 6:22

Um I'm glad it actually helped because I was like, this is awkward filming it, but maybe someone will it will help someone know. Because the first time I went there, I swear I went around the building like four times. And people, like other guards of the like, because it's next to a federal, you know, like a federal detention jail center, and they like were like, we don't know what you're talking about. So everyone told me I was crazy, like it didn't exist, and it took like 30 minutes to find it.

Speaker 3 6:46

At MDEF, Sarah and her team work day in and day out as the first line of defense for those who have been detained by ICE. They are also one of the only lines of communication between detainees and their families.

Speaker 5 7:01

Yeah. So um I have represented a lot of people right after they get arrested and talk to families at E18. And the general consensus is, at least for family members, is the entire system makes it so it's extremely difficult to find your loved one after they're arrested for most of the time, like days. So what happens is someone is arrested, and you know, we've got a lot of good mutual aid groups that maybe try to film it or try to get people's information, but if it's not filmed, no one knows what happened.

Speaker 3 7:35

Many family members of ICE detainees don't know what B18 is or where it is located. Their first instinct is often to try and find a legal firm or hotline that can point them in the right direction. One of the main pieces of advice given to anyone stuck in this position is to check the ICE detainee locator, an online database maintained by the agency that can be used to find people who are being held in their custody. Because there are lags in processing, it's not always accurate. And it may not show the most up-to-date information on where someone is being held.

Speaker 5 8:09

Um, but what we found is that family members are unable to locate them because ice always points us towards the ICE locator, which is online, where first of all, it's extremely finicky because if you don't get exactly right, the full name, the date of birth, the country, um, and they often make mistakes when they're putting this person's name in, like they don't include the hyphen or they only use one of the two last names, um, it won't show up. But even if you do get it right, that won't show up for, you know, they say it takes at least 24 to 48 hours to update these this ice locator. So, in my experience, for the first few days, you can't you don't usually find that person. It's not like, okay, they arrest them, they bring them to B18. That ice locator is immediately updated. That's not that's not what happens. So, what in my experience happens when I talk to families and they say, we thought our family member was here, can you help us find them? I look at the ice locator, it doesn't say anything. I ask the officials at B18, they say they are not allowed to give me any any information, and then they point me to an attorney line, which is like an ICE LA attorney line to locate clients, and usually they say they don't even have it in their system. And this could be days after the arrest.

Speaker 3 9:22

Because of the way this location system is set up, the communities of ICE detainees not only have to deal with the anguish that follows when one of their own is taken into custody, but also the fear of being unable to locate them for days at a time. This has led many immigrants in Southern California to take some pretty extreme measures.

Speaker 5 9:42

One thing that that we have heard that's been successful, not that we tell people to do this, is some people will have Apple tags on them. And that is the only way their loved ones know physically where they are for those first few days.

Speaker 3 9:57

Wow. Wow. Yeah. To have to resort to something like that is is wild. Fears amongst immigrant communities in Los Angeles have heightened as the second Trump administration has demanded that ICE accelerate and increase its number of detainments and deportations. Like Matthew, Sarah has watched how this pressure from the highest levels of the federal government plays out in real time on the ground.

Speaker 5 10:22

In the past, ICE routinely was only supposed to hold people between, I think, 24 to 48 hours. That was like a guideline that has gone out the window under Trump. Um, so it used to be just like a quick place that they would drop them off and then, you know, then they would go to the final detention center.

Speaker 3 10:40

According to Sarah, she encountered a detainee last summer who had been held in B18 for 12 days, much longer than the period that ICE outlines in its own immigrant detainment guidelines. Although the pace of processing detainees eventually picked back up, Sarah said that there remains a lot of pressure to voluntarily agree to deportation, regardless of how long someone is being held for processing.

Speaker 5 11:04

So, you know, I've heard of definitely people being threatened, especially, you know, early on, like just sign this or you have to sign this. I had a client where they tried to force him to sign a deport a voluntary deportation order and uh like violently. So I what I worry about with those people is they didn't get the proper information. And under Trump's regime, where his whole goal is to deport as many people as pot as possible through punitive measures on attorneys, like I would argue, even more important in those first few days. Because if you're all alone and you see how bad the conditions are, because they're purposefully overcrowding, you know, no private bathroom, no place to sleep, no toothbrush, they purposefully, I believe, do that so that it's more likely people will be like, okay, just deport me. I can't, I can't handle this.

Speaker 3 12:05

Are you or a loved one undocumented and living in Los Angeles? We at the Southlander want to share some tips that can help keep you and your family safe and prepared in case you are encountered by ICE. Number one, it is important to know your rights. Because of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, you are not required to let ICE search your belongings or enter your home unless they have a warrant. The only way they can legally enter your private residence is by providing a judicial warrant signed by a judge. The Fifth Amendment also gives you the right to remain silent. This means you do not have to speak to ICE agents, answer their questions, or sign any documents they may have. Number two, create a family preparedness plan. In case someone in your home is detained by ICE, it is helpful to plan ahead for things like child care in the absence of a parent, community support in the absence of a caregiver, and other challenges that may arise. You can visit the Immigrant Legal Resource Center's website or click the link in our show notes to view their family preparedness toolkit. This resource is available in both English and Spanish. Number three, if you need a lawyer to represent someone in ICE custody, you can call Chirla's Immigrant Assistance Hotline at 888-624-4752. You can also reach out to MDEF's Rapid Response Legal Resources Hotline at 213-833-8283. For additional legal resources for undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles, check out our show notes for this episode. In my opinion, you don't truly start to grasp the weight of the effects of ICE's detention and deportation system until you go to a temporary processing center like B-18. The entrance is confusing, almost like walking into the stairwell of a parking garage, with only a small B-18 graffitied in black on the side of the building, giving you any indication whatsoever that you're headed in the right direction. Then, you're confronted by a single locked door plastered with signs written in English about bonds, visiting hours, and dress codes for visitors. The only sentence of Spanish on the door was on a sign telling visitors that they could push a button next to the door for assistance. Around the same time each weekday, confused and terrified grandmothers, husbands, children, and friends pool into the small entryway to B18, desperate for a moment to see their loved ones face to face. This is where I met Mirabel Ruiz, whose husband had been picked up by ice last October while on a spontaneous dirt biking trip.

Speaker 1 15:05

He says he's okay here, but like I said, this is just a holding cell. He's gonna get transferred to state prison. Which we don't know. That's another scare for him, because he doesn't know how it is there.

Speaker 4 15:17

Yeah.

Speaker 1 15:17

He doesn't know what's gonna happen. He doesn't know anything in there. So it's scary for him. Yeah.

Speaker 4 15:24

Um, and then one thing I think I forgot to ask you earlier was After he was detained, how did you go about confirming that this was where he was brought?

Speaker 1 15:35

Well, when he got detained, her my cousin's husband called her because they were together. And my cousin's husband was like, hey, um, well told her, like, hey, you know, he got detained by Ice, he got taken to Ice. Once my cousin called me and let me know, like, hey, you know, you need to calm down, you're pregnant, like you're due next month, like I need to tell you something. I kind of had a gut feeling already, like something was wrong as soon as she told me. Um and I was home with my daughters. I was actually getting ready to go to work when my cousin told me.

Speaker 3 16:19

After Maribel got that call from her cousin, Carla Rank, she did not receive another update until her husband called her from his holding cell in San Bernardino. His voice was panicked, stating that he did not know what would happen next. Maribel didn't hear from him again until later that evening when he called to let her know that he had been transferred to B-18 in Los Angeles. Accompanied by Carla, Maribel, who was eight months pregnant at the time with two more young children at home, made the trip to B-18 the very next morning.

Speaker 1 16:50

And yes, they tell you they're in here, but they don't know how they are. Like we don't know how they are, we don't know if they're okay, we don't know anything. They just say, okay, yeah, he's in here. But it's like we're not satisfied with that. Like we want to see them. And yeah, it's just I was hoping to see him today, but now they're saying no, like we don't have enough staff. And it's like it's not my problem. You literally told me around 10 to come back at 1245. We were here at 1245 and now they're saying there's no staff. Yeah, I don't find childcare, and you know, like he's literally the only one that watches my kids. Yes, I can go on maternity leave, but we're not in the budget for that, you know. And um, I'm still working. Um trying to make it work. He was working as well. He works mornings, I work evenings, and it's like, no, I'm not working because I'm here trying to see him. I'm trying to see how he's doing. Because at the end of the day, I'm not just gonna leave him and be like, oh, you know, he got detained. I'm not gonna be there. This is when he needs me the most, and now they're being like this with us. It's not fair.

Speaker 3 18:02

The women were escorted into the facility by ICE officials nearly two hours after family visitations were supposed to start. But before they could see Maribel's husband, they were asked to take out their belongings, leave their phones, and were swabbed with a metal detector.

Speaker 1 18:17

After they do that, they bring out the detainee from the back. And um, when they brought out my husband, like, yeah, the good thing is they don't bring him out in handcuffs. Which for me I was like, oh, you know, like I'm scared, you know, to see him in handcuffs, like it was gonna hit more. And no, they don't bring him out in handcuffs. It was it was I don't know, like and I kinda told him, you know, like yes, he I try to be brave because yes, he's in there and yes, it's hard out here too, but it's harder for him thinking about his daughters, thinking about if he's gonna miss his son's birth. He doesn't know. And yeah, he's scared too. This is his first time being in jail. He has never he doesn't have a criminal record, he's never been, you know, stopped, nothing. And for him going to jail, it's scary for him, and I kinda just try to be brave and I wasn't crying in front of him. He was asking about his daughters, like how are they? Um, I kinda told them like they're good, they're fine, like they're okay, they're gonna be they're fine.

Speaker 3 19:34

As Mirabel and Carla were led into the facility, they overheard agents saying that they were short staffed and did not know if anyone else would be permitted to enter for family visitation that day. Nearly a dozen individuals had waited outside in line behind them, hoping to check on their loved ones or say goodbye before their deportation. However, Mirabel and Carla were some of the only visitors who got to go inside B18 that day.

Speaker 2 20:00

I don't know. I think people feel lonely, you know, the people, I mean, our families that are in there, you know, I think they wanna they just wanna see us. I don't know. I I don't know to be honest. I'm just you need to- Um yeah, I'm heartbroken for them. I it's I never thought that we were going to go through this. I don't know. We just didn't think about this. I mean, I don't think anyone expects this, but the way it is in there, it's unbelievable.

Speaker 3 20:26

The struggles that Carla and Mirabel faced are not an isolated experience. Countless families across the country have lost one of their own to the U.S. detention system, with many torn apart permanently and forced to live in opposite corners of the world. We will explore the pressure placed on detainees to voluntarily self-deport and other issues in our next episode, which concentrates on the rapid transfer of immigrants between detention centers. Episode two will be released on Monday, May 25th. You can get access to all remaining episodes five days early by becoming a paid subscriber today. If you're interested in learning more about immigration enforcement on the ground in Los Angeles, check out the show notes and visit our website, thesautlander.com, to stay up to date on our latest reporting. As Los Angeles' only worker-owned investigative newsroom, we strive to bring you stories that would otherwise go uncovered by other local outlets. You can support our work by becoming a subscriber and following us on Instagram, Blue Sky, or TikTok. Thank you for listening to Through the Labyrinth. I'm working Keith.