On Friday, a friend of mine was detained by US Border patrol on I-10 near El Paso. As his new passport is still being processed with the Bulgarian consulate, they decided his temporary papers weren't enough, and after 40 minutes of debating, they decided to detain him.

He asked to call the Bulgarian consulate to verify his passport is being processed. They allowed him to call, but the consulate didn't pick up.

His car, phone, and all belongings were taken away. He was driven by a van to the holding facilities 10 minutes away, where he was put in a cell outside to await processing. At this point, he told me, reality began to sink in.

They took his photo, fingerprinted him, and allowed him to call someone. He only had two numbers memorized: his dad and his brother.

The number was blocked, so most people would have ignored it.His dad didn't pick up. Fortunately his brother did.

After the call, they itemized his money and put him in a closed cell. He's not vaccinated so wanted his own cell: they called him 'princess' but gave it to him. On the way out, he saw up to 25 people being held in similarly-sized cells. Lots of kids.

The cells are lit with bright white lights all the time, making it impossible to sleep. There is constant buzzing and doors slamming as people enter and leave. He was given a thin mat, an emergency foil blanket, a capri sun and cold hot pockets.

The 'bed' in the room is a cold metal frame, so he put the pad on the dirty floor, stuffed his ears with toilet paper, and used the rest of the roll as a pillow.

Keep in mind that he was given extra privileges; most others didn't have their own space.

It was a long night.

The next day, the lawyers, consulate, and he argued he should be let go rather than being detained before he goes in front of a judge in August.

They let him go. It was hour 28. He was extremely lucky.

His car is being held at the nearby police station, but they won't let him access it till Monday morning. A guard he made friends with took pity on him and drove him to a nearby hotel. He is staying at that hotel now.

On the way to the hotel, he asked the guard, who is likely a naturalized citizen and native Spanish speaker, how he could stand it: the kids, the crowding, the inhumanity.

The guard said he couldn't sleep for months, but was numb to it now.

My friend was supposed to arrive Friday night; when I didn't hear from him I got concerned, and I could see his phone wasn't receiving messages. I was worried about a car accident. Finally reached out to his brother. Thank god his brother picked up the phone from DHS.

Otherwise we would have no idea what happened.

You can't call in to ICE, and they wouldn't have processed him as being in the system until Monday. There is a database lookup, but he wasn't in it.

By Monday, he could have been transported to any ICE facility in the country.

You cannot call people who have been detained. You cannot send them cash to pay for calls. You cannot affect how or when they are released. Once ICE has them, they have no rights. They have no access to the outside world that could help them.

I have known for years this was the case, and have long wanted to abolish ICE and ease immigration restrictions.

But as I made my 15th call to an ICE facility that lead to a recording giving me more numbers, i realized how much I didn't know about how deliberately obtuse, confusing, and complicated the system has made holding detainees.

Try calling this number yourself: 915-856-2317

Instead of real life, it felt like a movie, the gratuitously horrific kind.

It makes me wonder: would ICE be so bad if we didn't have movies setting an example? Is this why we allow the equivalent of war crimes to happen near our border?

I never knew how to help before, and I knew at least I could dedicate time to getting my friend out of the system. That's one person, but at least I know enough about him to try and track him down. Fortunately, I don't have to.

He was incredibly lucky. He's white, he speaks English, and by his account the guards were fascinated with him—they don't often get Europeans, they told him, and it was clear they thought he was interesting. We are both sure that's why he was allowed out so soon.

But all I can think about now is what I already knew—the kids, the non-english speakers, the ordinary people simply wanting a better life, being detained for months in small cells, one hour access to the outdoors. They are in solitary confinement.

If anyone knows the best thing to do to help shut down this awful system, point me to it. I'm not sure how donations can work on a mass scale. Individuals sure—but not the whole system.

My vote has always l leaned towards abolishing these systems, but usually just goes to reducing funds.

REDUCING FUNDS MAKES THINGS WORSE. If we don't remove the system completely, it just takes longer to process everyone and people are effectively being tortured for longer.

The cells are designed to make you give up and sign a voluntary deportation form. They are inhumane.

They are also designed to maximize income for the prison owners.

I really don't know what to do to affect the most change and burn this system to the ground, but I am going to try and find out.