This photo was taken at the Salvadoran-Guatemalan Refugee Program office in Seattle. The program supported refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala with legal aid, assistance with getting political asylum, and paying bail bonds for refugees who were arrested. If bail was not posted within a specified time period, refugees were sent to camps in California or Arizona. On the occasion of this photograph, the program had to raise $14,000 to free seven refugees who had recently been arrested.

The photo shows Rafael (right), who came to Seattle as a refugee from El Salvador. By 1985, Rafael had been in the United States for more than 11 years and had established permanent resident status to avoid the threat of deportation. He said that he would not choose to return to El Salvador for fear for his life. In Rafael’s words, “While the names down there have changed since I left many years ago, it’s the same type of government.” To the left of Rafael is Michael Ramos, a staff member at the program who was responsible for increasing the number of churches that provided financial support to the program.

Caption information source: “Wanted: $14,000 to get seven refugees out of jail,” by Don Fair, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 2, 1985, page A6.