José Elias Avendaño

José Avendaño is a 62 year old dishwasher who fled El Salvador decades ago and built his life in the United States. He had legal protection from deportation and a valid work permit, yet he was still pulled from his car and detained by immigration officers. He also has severe heart problems and was denied his medication while in detention. Maria Sacchetti and N. Kirkpatrick tell his story in The Washington Post article here, but it’s Jaida Grey Eagle’s photograph of his hands that makes it impossible to look away.

What stays with me most is that Avendaño still wears the paper wristband placed on him during his detention in case he is stopped again, using it to show officers that he has already been detained by federal authorities. No one should have to carry the mark of detention on their body just to stay safe. That detail, along with the image of his hands, says everything about the cruelty of a system that leaves a man vulnerable, denies him care, and then makes him live with the proof of that harm wrapped around his wrist.

For the clearest detail and strongest finished piece, I recommend using cardstock and a cutting machine. Cardstock provides the stability needed to hold the fine lines and structure of the design. You can download the image directly from this site or access the full set on the Cricut website under the What Remains Collection. These templates are free to use for personal and community projects, but they may not be sold or used for commercial purposes.

To download the PNG file, click on the image template to the left, open a new page and right click to save on to your computer. Alternately, you can visit the collection page on the Cricut website for all the files here.