Pink Combs and Brushes

Photograph by Tom Kiefer, 2012. Via the New York Times

For over 10 years Tom Kiefer, a Customs and Border Protection center janitor, collected items confiscated by Border Patrol agents from migrants crossing the United States border with Mexico.

Combs, brushes and mirrors were considered nonessential and possibly dangerous, he said.

Emotional Healing Through Hair

Photograph by Gabriella Angotti-Jones.

 
So many of us have been touched by the plight of mothers and fathers being separated from their children after coming to the United States seeking asylum. In New York, one story stands out. A Guatemalan woman named Yeni Gonzalez was detained in Arizona, but her children were being held in New York. Her bond was raised by a GoFundMe campaign, and her travel across the country to be reunited with her children was facilitated by a relay of cars taking her leg-by-leg over 2000 miles.“The day Ms. González was released, the women braided her hair and, defying orders not to touch or embrace, they lined up to hug her goodbye.” The organizer of the GoFundMe page told reporters that more than anything, Gonzalez can't wait to comb her little girl's hair. 1. 

The full story of her journey is recounted in this New York Times story. 

1. https://patch.com/new-york/bushwick/s/gglk5/guatemalan-mom-reunites-with-kids-in-harlem-after-ice-separation