Hundreds of immigrant families remain in detention centers that are similar to prisons in the United States, and are subjected to severe restrictions and disciplinary measures, according to a report released yesterday [February 22].
The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) confirmed that immigrants detained on the U.S. border and in other parts of the country, as well as those seeking asylum, are sent to these centers where they lack adequate care.
According to the report, the detained immigrants lack sufficient medical attention, educational opportunities for their children and they have limited access to food.
“This is rather disturbing because of the concept of freedom that exists in this country; we have the government detaining and denying freedom to people who aren’t criminals and present no threat,” said LIRS Director Reston H. Deffenbaugh.
He suggests that what happens in the family detention centers operated by the Office of Immigration and Customs can only be compared to the internment of Americans of Japanese origin during World War II.
“Another reason that this is disturbing is that it goes against family values,” said Deffenbaugh in the presentation of the report, which was produced by the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
The report was based on visits by researchers to the Don Hutto Residential Center in Texas and the Bates Family Care Shelter in Pennsylvania. The document argues that the penal conditions in these detention centers “are clearly inappropriate and disturbing.”
The report adds that, in these centers, some detainees have suffered psychological trauma, and there are pregnant women that don’t receive sufficient prenatal care, much less the nutrition they need in their condition.
Many families complained about the limited time they have to eat in the cafeteria – 20 minutes – and the rule in at least one of the centers against taking food to their cells. Both centers hold more than 400 people currently, including children, who come from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
