Representative Jeff Crank

455 E. Pikes Peak Ave

Suite 103

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

RE: Constituent Concern - Release Hayam El Gamal and her 5 children being held in detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas and End Family Detention

Dear Representative Crank:

We want to thank you for personally taking the time to read this letter and listen to our concerns as our federal representative. We are community members from Colorado Springs urging you to quickly respond to our requests with justice and mercy grounded in your faith in Jesus Christ. Of course, no matter our faith convictions, it is in support of the common good and basic humanity, that we not imprison children who are completely innocent and morally must be spared this trauma. This letter and the proposed actions are supported by 94 of your constituents - spearheaded by Christian motherswho are deeply troubled by the treatment of immigrants and refugees in our community and across the country. 

I. The Urgent Case: Release Hayam El Gamal and her 5 Children from Detention

We are asking you to help secure the release of Hayam El Gamal and her five children - ages 18, 16, 9, and twin 5 year olds - from the South Texas Family Residential Center, where they have been held since June 2025. Their immigration case is pending and none of them is accused of a crime. 

This family is part of our community here in Colorado Springs. They are not a flight risk - in fact, a sponsor is ready to welcome them, with housing available at no cost to taxpayers. More than 900 community members have signed for their release, and 1,500 people have raised nearly $100,000 to help them resettle. Meanwhile, the twins have spent nearly one-fifth of their young lives in detention, and taxpayers have spent a conservatively estimated $250,000 to needlessly hold them there. They have now been held for over 250 days, well over the 20-day maximum set forth in the Flores agreement. 

This prolonged detention is hurting not only this family with young children but also our community. Please act quickly to release this family so they can continue their case from home, surrounded by the people ready to support them.

II. Justice for All Families

Hayam El Gamal and her 5 children are the human faces of a systemic issue that we believe contradicts both our faith and our fiscal values. While the immediate release of this family is our primary goal, their situation highlights the need for broader legislative action.

We strongly oppose holding families in detention. This practice traumatizes children and subjects families to separation. It is also fiscally wasteful and irresponsible, when there are more cost effective community-based alternatives that actually provide higher rates of compliance. We believe that true justice - the kind mentioned in Zechariah 7:9-10 - would be a system that honors due process without stripping families of their basic dignity. To this end, we believe that family detention must end.

III. Our Specific, Critical Requests

In summary, we respectfully request that you take the following actions:

1. Submit a formal Congressional Inquiry to the ICE Field Office Director regarding the status of Hayam El Gamal and her 5 children and advocate for their release to their Colorado Springs sponsor.

2. Help end the expensive and inhumane practice of detaining families. 

3. Until this inhumane practice ends, use congressional oversight authority to protect families by ensuring the enforcement of the Flores Agreement so no child is held beyond the 20-day legal limit. 

4. Promote stringent oversight of detention facilities to ensure families are receiving counsel, clean drinking water, fresh food, access to healthcare, and educational opportunities for children. 

5. Meet with us, your constituents on Monday, March 9th, or Tuesday, March 10th, to discuss these concerns. 

We beseech you to hear the call in Zechariah 7: 9-10 which reads,  “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.’” Our belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ compels us to speak up for the vulnerable and the foreigner. We urge you to heed the call listed above to administer true justice that must include compassion and due process. 

We have attached links including a PBS NewsHour report and the KKTV News coverage of our local efforts to provide further context on the family’s situation.

We look forward to meeting with you and seeing you exercise your authority to do what is right for this family, our community, and the values we share.

Sincerely, 

Emily Schilperoort, Alexandria Newton, Jennifer Blazis, Lacey Goodwin on behalf of Neighbors of Faith and Conviction Community Group