A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND EVENT at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center earlier this month recognizes the cultural and religious roots of incarcerated individuals from El Salvador, while highlighting the plight of those who get deported there to spend the rest of their life in prison.
San Quentin Fiesta de San Salvador honors El Rey Del Mundo, or the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, a deeply significant holiday in San Salvador, a city whose name means savior of the world.
Edwin E. Chavez, an incarcerated person and native of the country, hosted the Aug. 8 event.
A color guard unit from the incarcerated veteran population carried the flags of the U.S. and El Salvador into the Garden Chapel. The national anthems for both nations were performed. A packed crowd of incarcerated individuals, families, community members and prison administrators stood as the ceremony took place.
“How many people here are from El Salvador,” warden Chance Andes asked the crowd. About 30 incarcerated individuals raised their hands.
“I look in the room and I see the diversity in the room. I see the support from other cultures and it’s truly amazing. San Quentin doesn’t have the politics like other prisons. We have a rehabilitative environment and our goal is to help you all become contributing members of society.”
Guests were treated to a mixture of Latin cultural experiences, including an original dance performance from Peruvian artist Luis Valverde’s Dance Ballet Folklorico. An incarcerated group of Aztec dancers did ancient dances to the five elements.
The national dish of El Salvador, pupusas, was also served with rice, refried beans and tamales. Guests were also treated to horchatas, a drink made with rice, water, and cinnamon, and for dessert they were provided with flan.
“I love my country,” said Chavez, who cried during the singing of his country’s national anthem. “But I feel betrayed by the government. I feel like a man who is now without a country in the ocean drowning emotionally, wondering which way the ocean will take me.”
Parolees to deportees
Salvadoran people in California prisons face a unique and unfortunate situation. They can undergo rehabilitation, transform their lives and become better people. They can earn their parole and no longer be considered a threat to American society. But they will get deported to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, also known as CECOT, where they face far worse conditions than they face in a U.S. prison.
Chavez has been incarcerated 31 years for a gang-related attempted murder. He said that he is a changed person. He has been getting rehabilitation and he has put the gang life behind him. He has been undergoing treatments to get his tattoos removed. But he knows it’s not enough.
His mother Maria Elizabeth Hurren sat in the front row of the chapel watching her son speak. She has been visiting him and his brother Gabriel Chavez in a California prison for more than 30 years.
The Chavez brothers were brought to the United States at 13 and 9 years old. By the time they were teens, both were under the influence of a gang. Both have spent more than 30 years in prison. However, Gabriel Chavez was released by a Board of Parole Hearings panel two years ago. He spent two years in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility fighting extradition. He is now in the notorious CECOT. His mother doesn’t get to communicate with him and she said she has to pay a recurring fee to authorities at the prison to ensure he gets fed.
“I plan to waive my parole board hearing,” said Edwin Chavez. “I had to make that choice. I can stay in a more humane prison in the U.S. or risk being found suitable for parole because of my rehabilitation and be transferred to prison in El Salvador, where I will die in prison.”
In February of this year, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele publicly offered to lock up any foreign criminals, including U.S. citizens, in the CECOT prison.
The Salvadoran government imprisons its own people for having tattoos. The “Association with Illicit Activities” law criminalizes all skin-ink images ranging from the Virgin Mary to praying hands. Any image could be considered a link to gang membership under this law, which is part of a state of emergency in the country that has been renewed every 30 days since March of 2021.
Restorative justice
Nobody disagreed with the necessity to deal with gang violence, but many disagreed with the approach of imprisoning people for life because of their past.
Julio Escobar works with the Archdiocese of San Francisco and does restorative justice work involving victims and offenders. He has been working in communities trying to prevent gang violence since 1995.
“I would go to the parks and take burritos and Pepsi every week,” Escobar said. “Some of them wouldn’t drink the Pepsi because of the color of the can so I brought Coke.”
He believed that doing restorative justice work, showing compassion, and being there for the young men even during their stints in juvenile hall, he would finally reach them.
Esperanza Navas also spoke. Her son was killed by gang violence in 1999. She talked about how he felt alone and was being bullied, which likely contributed to his choice to join a gang.
Navas also committed herself to doing restorative justice work with young men in the jails. After her son’s death, she chose love over hatred through the grace of God and committed herself to preventing young men from following her son’s path.
“I plan to waive my parole board hearing. I had to make that choice. I can stay in a more humane prison in the U.S. or risk being found suitable for parole because of my rehabilitation and be transferred to prison in El Salvador, where I will die in prison.”
Edwin Chavez
A panel discussion led by incarcerated person Juan Moreno Haines introduced the topic of deportation after rehabilitation.
“What happens after someone who has changed their life gets released from prison? What are we doing here?” he asked the panel.
Among the participants was San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
“I follow closely what is going on with El Salvador because my father is from El Salvador,” she said. “We have to be able to have this conversation. We as a state have to determine what is our answer for people who are particularly from El Salvador. It’s unfair for people who have been here since they were children to be sent to a country they don’t know.”
Jenkins said, “When somebody has done their time and paid for their crime, tacking on another collateral consequence is unfair. We must demand government officials look at the unfairness of this.”
Changing the ‘criminal mindset’
Arturo Melendez is serving a 15 years to life sentence for murder. He participated in the panel discussion and shared how he didn’t think about rehabilitation when he came to prison.
“I went to a Level 4 prison yard where there is constant violence. When I was on the Level 4 yard at Pelican Bay, I had a criminal mindset,” he said. “I was validated as a gang member.”
Melendez said that he told himself he would not break. He is going to be tough and never change. But missing his family and disappointing them broke him.
“CDCR offered me an opportunity to leave the gang lifestyle and I did. I’ve been taking criminal gang anonymous classes, guiding rage into power, restorative justice and other programs. I had my ‘a ha’ moment. Now I facilitate the groups.”
Melendez now takes pride in being able to sit among prison administrators and district attorneys without feeling uncomfortable. He feels like he is part of the community.
Lt. Robert Gardea is a former community resource manager with San Quentin who joined the panel discussion.
“My most rewarding job was signing off on the programs that these guys take,” he said. “We helped transform lives so that they are not the same people when they leave prison. I know that if they put the work in they’ll be a different person. I have had formerly incarcerated people over to my house because I believe in it.”
The new chief deputy warden Rosalinda Rosalez also participated.
“I am only the third female CDW and the first Latina,” she said. “First college graduate in my family. I was offered a job in the prisons, but I was conflicted because so many of my people are locked up. But I took the job and I started working with foreign nationals who had no family. I have been advocating for those on death row. I came to help and that’s why I always say yes. I look forward to more proposals, where I can say yes to supporting the community.”
Mixed messages
But despite the support these prison employees express, there is also cooperation happening between the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and ICE.
President Donald Trump has vowed to send all Latin American immigrants back to their native countries and has sent National Guard troops and the Marines to Los Angeles.
Alex Sanchez is the executive director of Homies Unidos, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing violence in the Los Angeles area. He was actually deported to El Salvador but returned after winning political asylum.
He spoke to the panel and recommended using the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a treaty adopted by the United Nations in 1984, as a guide for fighting against deportation.
“We have an administration that is coming after us all and I only have a green card. I am afraid to apply for U.S. citizenship right now,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez also recommended that CDCR stop cooperating with ICE agents if they agree these deportations are wrong.
“I think the governor should pardon people facing deportation to El Salvador,” he said. “We have to take collaborative measures.”
Sergio Linares is an incarcerated person from El Salvador. He came to the U.S. in 1998. He has been in prison for the past 17 years.
“I have a 50-year sentence, but I’m up for parole again in a year. I’m not from a gang and I don’t have all the tattoos but I have a criminal record,” he said. “I’m afraid that I will not get to be with my wife and sons again.”
At the close of the event, Chavez reminded everyone about his brother and the need for a solution and thanked everyone for their support.
“I don’t know what is happening with my brother. I don’t know what’s going to happen with me, but thank you all for showing support for my culture and this event,” he said.
Steve Brooks is a California Local News Fellow with Bay City News Foundation, reporting from inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. His perspective gives readers insight into issues and news from inside the prison. See more of his work at Inside/Out on Local News Matters.