A year ago possibilities meant nothing to Mari Hernandez. Possibilities were for American citizens—people who spoke English or had money. They certainly weren’t for undocumented immigrant women whose husbands beat them into a life of silence.

Detention Dialogues is the first immigration detention visitation program in California. Each week one of 40 trained volunteers visits detainees, mostly from Central and Latin America. Their hope is to bridge the gap of isolation by visiting detainees on a regular basis and supporting them throughout their detention by contacting family members on their behalf, connecting them to attorneys and forging a bond with the outside American world.