人兽性交

As Robert speaks, the burdens he鈥檚 had to bear cause him to speak quickly. He only pauses to take a breath when he can no longer hide his tears.

鈥淚鈥檓 a prisoner no matter where I go,鈥� Robert, 40, said. 鈥淚鈥檓 trapped. I鈥檓 tortured in detention, and I鈥檓 tortured on the streets of Honduras. I just want to go somewhere without racism. It鈥檚 been really difficult.鈥�

In Honduras, Robert was nearly beaten to death in a racially motivated hate crime that left him permanently disabled. After continued threats against his life, he fled Honduras in 2018 but is now detained at Folkston ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia. Once a skilled fiberglass technician who rebuilt commercial vessels, he is now forced to clean the bathrooms of the immigrant prison for $2.50 a day.聽

His road to detention is paved with a lifetime of pain.聽聽聽

Because Robert and his sister are Garifuna 鈥� a minority group of Indigenous people, also known as Black Caribs 鈥� they were often the targets of extreme violence and hatred in the coastal town of La Ceiba due to their darker skin tone.聽

Fearing for his life, Robert traveled to a different Honduran city, San Pedro Sula, to seek safety and a life free of bigotry. But he faced the same hatred and discrimination.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽

鈥淣o matter where I went in Honduras, people told me I was mala sangre, that I鈥檓 a cucaracha,鈥� he said in Spanish during an interview from Folkston in October. 鈥淭hey chased me down the street like a perro, calling me a payaso.鈥澛犅犅�

A nasty, vile person they would call him. A cockroach. They chased him down the street like a dog and mocked him for his vitiligo 鈥� a disease that causes loss of skin color in blotches 鈥� by calling him a clown.聽聽聽

In 2017, racists broke into Robert鈥檚 room in San Pedro Sula, ransacked it and threatened to kill him. Terrified and exhausted by endless threats and ridicules, Robert fled to the United States and arrived in September 2018. But when he crossed the border, U.S. immigration officials apprehended him and placed Robert in a hielera 鈥� a frigid, cramped holding cell used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 鈥� where he waited for 20 days and slept on the cold, concrete floor. CBP wouldn鈥檛 allow him to bathe 鈥� or even speak. They gave him precious little food.聽聽聽聽聽

He was later transported to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, where he took the interview given to immigrants that determines whether asylum-seekers have a genuine fear of home.

Robert passed the test but was shipped to Folkston on October 26, 2018.聽聽

Since then, the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative (SIFI) 鈥� a project of the 人兽性交 that provides pro bono legal services to those facing immigration proceedings in the Deep South 鈥� has taken on Robert鈥檚 case for asylum.聽聽聽聽聽

Profiting off pain聽

After discovering his sister lying naked and bleeding in the streets of La Ceiba in 2017, Robert fell to his knees in tears. His sister had been brutally raped 鈥� and there was nothing he could do. The police in his home country weren鈥檛 concerned and didn鈥檛 even show up to investigate. Police ignored crimes against Garifuna people.聽聽聽聽聽聽

A few months later in La Ceiba, where Robert鈥檚 mother, a U.S. citizen, had bought her children a home, Robert discovered that the men who had raped his sister were continuing to rape her, all while her children slept in the next room. His sister was terrified but didn鈥檛 know what to do. She and Robert had been harassed by their racist neighbors for so long, the situation seemed hopeless. They had even threatened to burn the siblings鈥� house down 鈥� all because they didn鈥檛 want a Black, Garifuna family living in the neighborhood.聽聽聽聽聽聽

After another few months, Robert鈥檚 neighbors ramped up their abuse. As Robert walked down the street alone one evening, his neighbors ambushed him and nearly beat him to death with a metal pipe. They fired gunshots at him, calling him a 鈥渕aldito negro鈥� 鈥� an f-ing 鈥渘-word.鈥澛犅犅�

He begged for mercy, but they continued beating him before striking his leg, causing a searing pain to erupt that made him collapse to the ground. He was helpless to escape his attackers before a lone passerby 鈥� a man in the only other Garifuna family in La Ceiba 鈥� stopped the attack. But again, the police did nothing.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽

At the hospital, doctors told Robert he had to pay in full for the surgery needed on his leg before they would operate on him. So for two days, Robert waited in agonizing pain until the money from his mother鈥檚 wire transfer from the U.S. was complete.聽

Once admitted, Robert needed eight pints of blood, and his leg was infected with gangrene. He spent a month in the hospital and another year in physical therapy. It鈥檚 still unknown to Robert if his leg will need to be amputated.聽聽聽

At Folkston, ICE provided X-rays for Robert, which indicated he might suffer from osteomyelitis 鈥� an infection of the bone, which could cause him to lose his leg.聽

But the agency has not provided the tests the doctor recommended to confirm a proper diagnosis. Instead, Robert is forced to work on his injured leg so that he can afford a $5 carton of milk and a $5 packet of vegetables 鈥� items he buys from the same for-profit prison operator, GeoGroup, that鈥檚 requiring him to work.聽聽聽聽

The 人兽性交 is suing another private prison operator, CoreCivic, for its practice of forcing detained immigrants to work for as little as $1 a day at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.聽

Robert said he works because he has no other choice. He needs basic necessities from Folkston鈥檚 commissary. To boot, Robert suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, all of which have worsened since being detained. He needs appropriate food to accommodate his diet, but the immigrant prison fails to comply with his dietary needs.聽聽聽

鈥淚 work because I have to,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 need to eat something healthy. The meat has blood in it. The food is horrible, and everything is frozen. I can鈥檛 eat anything. I also need soap, but I have to buy it. If I want toothpaste, I have to buy it. [And] if I want to eat a healthy meal, it costs me a week鈥檚 worth of work.鈥澛犅犅犅犅犅犅犅犅�

鈥榊ou鈥檙e just immigrants鈥�

Dressed in the immigrant prison鈥檚 drab, navy jumpsuit, Robert swats at flies and wipes his tears as he recounts the pain that led him to escape his home country.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 not going to lie,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verything affects me. I鈥檝e wanted to kill myself. I wanted to die. I couldn鈥檛 take care of my sister. But God told me to stay. He told me to keep going. I didn鈥檛 have any other option but to leave, even though I loved my country.鈥澛犅犅�

As for his leg, Robert was given Tylenol 鈥� nothing more 鈥� for his pain. SIFI requested parole for Robert in August, so that he could receive the tests the doctor recommended. But the response from ICE is still under review.聽聽聽聽聽聽

This is par for the course. In August, the 人兽性交 filed a nationwide class action suit against ICE over its failure to meet the medical, mental health and disability needs of the people it keeps locked up.聽聽聽聽聽

But the cruelest part of Robert鈥檚 detention has been the treatment he is forced to endure from some of the guards.聽聽

鈥淭hey watch us suffer,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey do nothing to help. They scream at us, saying, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e in America, so you don鈥檛 have rights.鈥� 鈥榊ou鈥檙e just immigrants!鈥欌��

At one point, Robert had saved $6 to buy a new towel from the commissary. After using it once, he hung it on the fence to dry. A guard immediately threw the towel away. When Robert complained that he needed it to shower and that he had worked for nearly a week to buy it, the guard replied, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not my problem.鈥澛犅犅犅犅�

鈥淭hey take away any privilege 鈥� the TV, the radio 鈥� if we do something 鈥榖ad,鈥欌�� Robert said.聽

After the attacks against Robert and his sister, both of Robert鈥檚 parents died. He lost the family home. Now, Robert said the only person he considers to be a friend in his life is SIFI attorney Meredyth Yoon.聽聽聽

鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful to her,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he gives me hope.鈥�

鈥淩obert is a wonderful man with a resilient spirit,鈥� said Yoon. 鈥淗e is kind to everyone. No one deserves to suffer the way he has 鈥� especially not because of their race, disability or other immutable characteristics.鈥澛犅犅犅�

Despite having multiple hearings, Robert is still awaiting a decision on his case from the immigration judge. The thought of deportation greatly frightens him 鈥� but he also knows it could be a reality.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽

鈥淚鈥檓 beyond terrified to return to Honduras,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l murder me. The people are still there, and they鈥檙e involved with the police. They鈥檒l come and get me. I鈥檒l have to live on the street again 鈥� in unavoidable fear.鈥澛犅犅犅犅�

Photo by Saul Loeb/Getty Images