For seven days, Allyson Vaughn has barely left a North Texas bus station. She's been there every day since she learned last week that a late-night bus carrying immigrant families recently released from an ICE detention center would be coming in, and decided to see how she could help.
"Another bus came in, and another bus came in, and it just continued throughout the night. All through the next day, they just didn't stop. It kept coming," she said.
Every day, dozens of immigrant families arrive in North Texas on buses, said Vaughn, mostly stopping through on their way to other cities to stay with family or friends while their immigration case moves through the courts, a process which could take years. Many of the parents are wearing ankle monitors, a requirement of their release from detention.
"A lot of times they're traveling with the clothes on their back," said Vaughn. "No food, no water, no money."
Vaughn is part of a national group of moms called Immigrant Families Together, formed a few months ago to raise bond money for parents separated from children at the border.
Last week, she began organizing other North Texas volunteers to stay at the bus station around the clock at a table stocked with snacks and water. Volunteers help connect them with resources like legal aid, help them sort through travel plans and court dates, and help them meet basic needs for their kids. "It's basic humanity," said Vaughn. "They're families and they're small children and they deserve just a bit of humanity from people."
"You want to make sure these people are okay, that they're safe, that they know where to get off the bus," said Soraya Colli, mom and community activist.
When a bus arrives from a border town, volunteers scan the ground. "We look for people that have ankle monitors," said Colli.
Then, they ask families what they need. Often, the group says, families do not have diapers, feminine hygiene products, food, or money to get them. Volunteers are at the bus station 24/7. Vaughn says more bilingual volunteers are needed.
"With every person we miss they lose an opportunity to have a chance or at least to be shown some kindness," said Vaughn.
"All I can think about more than anything is what they're going through," said Colli. "They must be so terrified, you can see it in their eyes."
For those who don't understand why a mom of two, who just two weeks ago was going on summer adventures with her daughters would spend the end of summer helping families from other countries in a bus station, Vaughn says after what she has seen, there's no way she couldn't.
"Come spend a day with me and I'll show exactly why this is important," she said.
You can find out more here.