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Parents Separated From Children Held At ICE Facility In Aurora

By Rick Sallinger

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- More than four dozen parents whose children have been taken away from them while crossing the U.S. border from Mexico are being held at a detention facility in Colorado.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities confirm that about 50 parents are being held at the GEO-run facility in Aurora.

Where their young ones are living is not necessarily clear.

Mekela Goehring of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network says her attorneys have been meeting with the mothers and fathers detained in Aurora.

"Yeah it's horrific, parents are crying, reliving the last moments that they had with their children," she told CBS 4 investigator Rick Sallinger.

More than 2,000 children have been held at the various centers around the country. Now, they are to be reunited with their parents under an executive order signed by Pres. Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Attorneys from the Immigrant Advocacy Network have been providing legal advice to parents that have been described as desperate.

One woman's case came to Goehring's mind, "She was told that her son was going to go get a bath. It was the last time that she saw him."

Another mother was released from the Aurora facility. She came to Casa de la Paz, a nonprofit home for those released from immigration detention who are looking for help.

The Aurora home's founder, Sarah Jackson, says one woman named Angelica stayed there. She was from Guatemala it took her three weeks to travel from Guatemala to the border.

It was there Jackson says Angelica's daughter was taken away. Angelica was sent to the detention facility in Aurora. Jackson says they are trying to help her and others.

"Finding every single mom and dad who needs a little bit of help to be able to talk to their child and we are putting a $20 phone card in their name so they can talk to their kids," said Jackson.

Casa de Paz says it is holding a fundraiser to assist Angelica, who is now in New England free on bond, to get reunited with her daughter and to assist other detained parents. The fundraiser is at Cerveceria Colorado located at 1635 Platte St. in Denver on July 13 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.

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