a handwritten letter

I love letter writing. And cards often fall into the same category. I love getting things in the mail and putting a stamp on before sending it to someone.
If you know me well, I have probably tried to get you to write me something. And I love writing back, though to be honest it often takes me longer than I hope. I have one letter in fact I have been waiting to write to a friend all week.

I think I like letters so much, because somehow what you share is different than other forms of communication. It is much more based on what is really going on in your head and is often more intimate and open. I think letter writing is a good practice.

But here is where we take a turn in this post my friends. I just wanted to give you a sense how much emotional attachment can be connected to a letter, to handwriting, to personal thoughts.

And now I will share one of the hardest parts of my job. Last month, with our attorney on leave I had to respond to two handwritten letters. Both were personal and hand written and contained a story. Each letter had family details, and facts, and was written in a way that asked for immediate response.

Both letters were written from detention centers and were from immigrants. I imagine they sent out other letters very similar to the one we received at Justice for Our Neighbors. And the hardest part wasn’t reading the letters. They were clear about the need for assistance from an attorney and I agree. The hardest part is writing the response, and wondering if all the other people that received similar letters respond the same way.

Unfortunately with our resources to work on one of these cases would take our attorney from 30 other cases that month. So I respond to the letter. Because when someone takes the time to write you a hand written letter you really should respond, but also for all of us that work here it is important to us to give honest clear information. It is important that in some small way, even when we can’t help we acknowledge our brother. And so I write the letter with a prayer, always including other resources and organizations for them to contact.

And I know for every letter there have to be so many more we don’t receive and I know I will get a phone call from a spouse of someone else desperate to be reunited with a loved one. Sometimes who was just lead astray by another attorney and somehow got into problems with the immigration system. Sometimes for driving without a valid license. There are lots of ways, and many people’s families don’t know where their loved one is.

So I still love handwritten letters, but these letters continue to make real for me the problem with our system and the rise of immigration detention centers.