Belated Mother’s Day Gifts to a Jailed Migrant Mom

Like many lucky moms, last Sunday was filled with flowing beautiful sentiments, hugs and appreciation. My teenage children (old enough to give me cards without prompting them) praised me for having raised amazing humans. Too true. The day was also filled with that most priceless of luxuries: the freedom to choose any pleasurable activity I wanted — dancing, hiking, playing games, doing nothing at all. The choices were mine to make.

While I am pretty good at not taking my children for granted; I mostly forget to feel gratitude for freedom itself.

Appreciation for my liberty is a byproduct of my latest iteration as a public interest lawyer—representing people seeking asylum. I took a sharp veer into this area of law because I was looking for a way to take stand against the vitriol being heaped on people seeking refuge in our country, and my son reminded me, “Mom, aren’t you a lawyer?” I was lucky I had the freedom and opportunity to take on pro bono immigration cases, and to find mentors.

So on my mind is not on flowers and hugs, but on the circumstances of another mother, one who has lost almost everything, whose child was murdered and who dared to press police to investigate, who along with her other children was threatened by the murderers with their deaths if she continued to advocate, and if she didn’t leave her country. To save their lives, she left, she came to the U.S. and asked for asylum. It was denied, and she appealed. The job at hand: how to free her from the…