First days after release: learning how to feel life again
After 11 months in immigration detention, we are finally released from custody. We are safe, but we are still in a required isolation period, so these first days are quiet, careful, and full of emotions.
Right now we are staying with our sponsor and following the quarantine requirement from our release paperwork. We are not going out or meeting people in person yet. We are trying to do everything correctly, respect the conditions, and avoid any mistake.
The strange thing is that life feels both very small and very full. We are mostly inside, but every day is filled with calls, messages, documents, questions, memories, and decisions that suddenly became important again.
After detention, even a quiet morning feels unreal.
One of the most unusual and beautiful things is waking up in silence, next to each other. No noise from the unit, no shouting, no constant tension. Just a quiet morning with my wife nearby. It sounds simple, but after so many months, it feels like something we are learning again.
We spend long hours talking with relatives. For them, these 11 months were also a nightmare. They waited, worried, and often did not know what would happen to us. Now we are finally able to speak more, explain that we are safe, and slowly help everyone come back from that fear.
We are also recovering physically. Normal food feels different now: fruit, vegetables, water, quiet meals, and sleep without stress. These ordinary things feel like part of healing.
We missed almost a year of ordinary life. News, prices, services, technology, phones, banking, housing searches, and even small trends moved forward while we were cut off from everything. Now we are not only recovering from detention — we are catching up with life.
Even seeing Los Angeles during the first moments after release felt powerful. For a long time, freedom was only an idea. Now it is real, even if our life is still limited and careful. It reminded us why we kept going.
Our first goal is simple: recover, follow every requirement, find a studio or small apartment to rent, and slowly return to normal life. We are not asking for a perfect beginning. We are trying to start again carefully, legally, and with dignity.