Every time we speak, he never fails to tell me that he’s praying for me. His prayer is that God grants us Fortaleza — strength, fortitude, a fortress.

One father. Two bullet wounds. Four months in detention. One community fighting back with the oldest legal tool in democracy. Donations needed for bond and transport.

I think about my own dad—waiting silently at home for his kidneys to fail. Stage 5 kidney failure and heart failure. I think about the little girl waiting in her walk-up apartment for the phone to ring, to know her dad is still there. How little time we all have on this planet, in this existence. Why are we wasting it with this horror?

What happens when a person is reduced to an “Alien Number”? A moving account of a visit to the Elizabeth Detention Center and the human stories hidden behind Core Civic’s walls.