Otofu Ayaku joined thousands of other graduates this month to walk across the stage and accept a diploma from the University of Texas at Austin. Two months ago, life couldn't have looked more different.
Ayaku recently returned to Austin after spending about a month in two detention facilities in the Houston area.
At one of the facilities, they recall being housed in one large room with about 40 other immigrants. There were beds, a seating area and little privacy.
"I would say that my experience in detention was dystopian," Ayaku said. "Dystopian in the sense that you're living, but you don't really have control over anything."
Ayaku, who is originally from Nigeria, came to the U.S. with their family in 2018 when they were 13. In March, they were arrested during a traffic stop and taken to the Austin County Jail in Bellville.
Ayaku said they had documents to prove they were in the U.S. legally, but they were transferred from the jail to the Montgomery Processing Center and eventually the Houston Contract Detention Facility. Ayaku's criminal charges were eventually dropped, but their immigration case is ongoing. They returned to Austin after being released from the detention facility on bond with an ankle monitor.
Ayaku is part of a local group called the Indigo Collective, which has been sharing updates about their case and raising money for legal fees.
Ayaku forged bonds with other immigrants during those weeks in detention. They came from all over the world — Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia.
"I made a bunch of friends," Ayaku said. "They call me. I can't call them."
To help pass the time, Ayaku said guards would occasionally print out coloring book pages for the detainees. Some people also made bracelets by using nail clippers to cut trash bags into long strips, dyeing the plastic with shavings from colored pencils and weaving it together. Since being released, Ayaku has continued to wear some of those bracelets, handmade by their fellow immigrants.
"Honestly, the only difference between [the other detainees] and me right now is that I'm out and they're in," Ayaku said. "But we're all fighting cases. It's just easier to do it when you're not in detention."
Ayaku said many immigrants are faced with the difficult choice of remaining in detention indefinitely or leaving the country voluntarily.
"They call it 'going home,'" Ayaku said. "To the people being detained, home is wherever they were picked up from."
Despite being able to attend graduation, Ayaku said they are working with UT to make up coursework they missed during their time in detention. Faced with an uncertain future in the United States, Ayaku is trying not to have expectations.
Ayaku spoke about their experience on a recent episode of Austin Signal.
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