When Paulette Cordova visits her brother at ICE’s Moshannon Valley Processing Center, she can see the weariness in his eyes.
Randy Cordova-Flores, 36, who was born in Peru, was detained by ICE agents more than a month ago after Springdale Police pulled him over near his home for allegedly failing to use a turn signal.
After initially being held in Northern Regional Correctional Facility and Jail near Moundsville, W.Va., Cordova-Flores remains one of hundreds of detainees at Moshannon, ICE’s largest holding facility in the Northeast.
“In his eye, his expression, every time that I see him, (when) we say ‘bye,’ he breaks,” Paulette said.
Clad in a blue jumpsuit — which designates a low-risk detainee at the facility — Cordova-Flores is part of a group of men who pray together every day at 6 a.m., Paulette said.
But outside of prayer, there’s little for detainees to do at Moshannon, she said.
Using a tablet, Cordova-Flores can make regular video calls to his family. In that way, he has maintained contact with his two children, 9 and 11, still in Springdale, Paulette said.
Paulette’s parents and other family members also live in Springdale. Despite the semi-regular contact with Cordova-Flores, she said they’ve struggled to maintain normalcy.
“We can’t enjoy anything,” Paulette said. “We can’t enjoy a meal because we know that he’s suffering there.”
Amy Sarno, a longtime friend of the family and an Allegheny Valley school director, said she also has spoken to Cordova-Flores on video calls while spending time with his family.
It’s comforting to see him through the screen, Sarno said, but the calls emphasize just how surreal the situation is for the family.
“It’s almost like you’re going through life as a ghost,” she said. “Everyone’s trying to have a normal day and a normal life, but there’s nothing normal about it.”
With the best English skills and the sole U.S. citizen of the family, Paulette said much of the pressure to keep the family strong has fallen on her.
She has had to take time off work, hire a lawyer and navigate the often complex and backlogged immigration court process.
A mother who also left her native Peru to begin a new life in the United States, Paulette said the last month has left her exhausted.
“I’ve never felt so worried in my life,” she said. “And I’ve been through a lot, too.”
But she credits her fiance, Nick DeFazio, the Sarno family and community support for keeping her positive.
An online fundraiser in support of Cordova-Flores’ family had gathered more than $31,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
ICE’s explanation for detaining Cordova-Flores
ICE spokesman Jason Koontz said in a statement Cordova-Flores “failed to report to his immigration proceedings as ordered by a judge.”
Border Patrol agents encountered Cordova-Flores in 2023 near Yuma, Ariz., after he “unlawfully entered the United States during the Biden Administration’s catch and release program,” the statement said.
Cordova-Flores has a pending asylum status case. He has been in the United States for nearly three years, Paulette said. He works as a landscaper but also took jobs as a food delivery driver during winter months, she said.
He has a Real ID, Social Security card and current work permit, according to Paulette. A search of state and federal court dockets showed no past or pending criminal charges against him.
A lawyer representing the family filed a habeas corpus petition on Cordova-Flores’ behalf earlier this month in an effort to grant him a potential bond hearing ahead of future asylum proceedings.
But in the meantime, Judah Marroquin said she hopes to push for answers.
Springdale is one of two police departments in Allegheny County that maintains a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which it discreetly signed in November without discussing it in public.
The agreement gives local officers limited immigration enforcement powers and allows them to cooperate with ICE when they encounter noncitizens during normal police operations.
Marroquin is the “unofficial leader” of the Allegheny Valley branch of Indivisible, a progressive organization that maintains hundreds of chapters.
She said the group plans to gather outside the Springdale Borough Building before council’s meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 17.
There, she said, community members and Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam will speak. Marroquin said she’d like to see Springdale Council put the 287(g) cooperation agreement up for a vote and offer a statement about Cordova-Flores’ detainment.
Last month, council members declined to offer any comment. Springdale Solicitor Craig Alexander said that’s because the Cordova-Flores incident is an ongoing federal investigation.
“We want council members to see us,” Marroquin said. “We want a packed room. We want answers to these questions.”
Springdale Police Chief Derek Dayoub did not respond to a TribLive request for comment.