El Refugio offers an oasis to families visiting migrants detained at a remote Georgia center

Three kilometers from Georgia’s remote Stewart Detention Center, a large house in Lumpkin offers families a place to sleep before visiting detained relatives. For many, the meeting may also become a forced farewell.

El Refugio opened in 2010 and has since become a refuge for migrant families facing the uncertainty and distress of detention. Volunteers say about 40 people arrive each day on weekends. Stephanie M. Madison, the center’s coordinator and a Clemson University professor, handles the steady stream of calls in Spanish.

The organization’s work extends beyond lodging. When a guard from CoreCivic, the company operating Stewart, called to say a detainee was due for release but no relative could be found, Madison quickly contacted a partner organization in Americus. The group agreed to receive the man temporarily because he had nowhere to go.

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It is a blessing to have them here.

Armando, an elderly Cuban migrant, waited outside with a walker after spending three months in the facility. “They let me out because I am very sick,” he said, appearing tired and frail. El Refugio also supports relatives during visits that can end in separation.

The center’s work unfolds alongside deaths at Stewart. Cuban detainee Denny Adan González, 33, died there in April in an apparent suicide, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mexican detainee Prisciliano Trejo Ricano, 29, died at a Georgia hospital on July 24 after being held at Stewart. El Refugio relies on donations to provide families and released migrants with shelter, assistance and hope.

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They let me out because I am very sick.