Project Description

Separated project leads Nara Milanich and Fanny Julissa García in Guatemala with members of the Justice in Motion Defender Network during a convening in 2022. Photo by James Rodriguez.

Injustice Into Action

Separated: Stories of Injustice and Solidarity documents the experiences of families separated by the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.  Like Japanese-American internment and Native American child removal, family separation will be remembered, discussed, memorialized, and litigated far into the future. The project records the stories of parents and children directly affected by separation and ensures that their stories of resistance and solidarity are included in the historical record. In addition to archiving stories for posterity, Separated also brings families into the public conversation in the present. Testimonies can inform and educate, shape public narratives, and impact policy and litigation. The project seeks to create a platform for families who have experienced separation to transform injustice into action.

Stories from Separated Families

As of early 2023, family members–fathers and mothers, as well as (now adult) children–have shared their stories with Separated. Of the 30 interviews in the oral history collection, the majority are fathers separated from their children at the U.S-Mexico border. Most hail from remote rural villages in Guatemala, and others are from small towns in Honduras and El Salvador. The interviews deal with traumatic migration stories, including encounters with traffickers, CBP, and ICE, but they move beyond stories of suffering and abuse to provide a fuller portrait of the speakers. Narrators discuss childhoods, livelihoods, cultural pride, families, personal achievements, solidarity among migrating people, and personal, communal, and familial hopes and dreams. The interviews portray those who move across borders as something other than criminals or victims, focusing on their choice-making and tenacity.

Stories from Human Rights Workers

The project also documents the work of defenders (members of the Justice in Motion Defender Network who protect the human rights of migrants and seek families separated and deported to Central America and Mexico). The experiences of the defenders demonstrate the value of legal international collaboration focused on respect for the cultures and customs of the communities in the region. The defenders have played a pivotal role in the family reunification process and share stories about their lives and the extensive investigative searches they coordinated to find and connect separated families to the reunification process and to provide access to justice and healing.