Shut down Hutto detention center!
November 6th 2007 17:50
My fellow Americans, are we a nation that imprisons children, even infants? If you say no, you aren't paying attention. There's a facility in Texas that is so dark and foreboding that it might be hard for some to imagine it being in America. It is the T. Don Hutto "Residential Center" in Taylor, Texas. It is a former prison ran by a for-profit corporation, Correction Corp. of America. It is only one of two facilities (the other is in Pennsylvania) currently authorized to hold immigrant families and children for non-criminal charges while their applications for asylum are considered, or while immigration works out deportation procedures. It was first opened in 2006 and the population is between 350 and 400 people. Those numbers have included whole families, single mothers and single fathers with children, pregnant women, and yes, even infants.Yes, you read correctly, it is a converted prison. And children are required to wear prison garb and are often threatened by guards with separation from their families.
For some of the stories from inside Hutto, check out www.shutdownhutto.org or www.womenscommission.org From 3 year olds denied food and unable to sleep to older kids given no privacy, the conditions described are not something that should happen in the America I want to call my country. One of the most head-scratching cases centers around a young Canadian boy who, along with his parents, was detained for weeks at Hutto, even though they were not involved with American immigration in any way.
The family was detained when the plane they were on (on its way to Toronto, Canada) was forced to make an emergency landing in Puerto Rico because a passenger had a heart attack and died inflight. The boy was born in Canada as is a citizen. Granted, the parents were not Canadian nationals and were attempting to return back after being deported. Still, it was a matter between Canada, Iran, and the family. Regardless, they were sent to Hutto. It was only after a letter written in crayon was sent by the boy to the Canadian Prime Minister (and the letter became public) that the family was granted at least temporary asylum in Canada and allowed to enter the country. Since when is it the job of American immigration authorities to interfere with other countries citizens? The case has upset quite a few people in Canada, to say the least.
The ACLU has been at the forefront of challenging the inhumanity of the Hutto facility from the outset, and in August won a settlement from The Department of Homeland Security that granted children held at Hutto such patently obvious "amenities" as privacy curtains around toilets and allowing children to have pens and paper in their rooms. Children are no longer required to wear prison garb and under the settlement head counts that forced children to be in their cells for 12 hours a day have been done away with. Read more about the ACLU case at Really Long Link
But as the ACLU states on the site, the facility still retains its original character, that of a prison. The ACLU along with other human rights groups call for a more humane way to treat families whose immigration status is in limbo. All Americans should do the same.
For some of the stories from inside Hutto, check out www.shutdownhutto.org or www.womenscommission.org From 3 year olds denied food and unable to sleep to older kids given no privacy, the conditions described are not something that should happen in the America I want to call my country. One of the most head-scratching cases centers around a young Canadian boy who, along with his parents, was detained for weeks at Hutto, even though they were not involved with American immigration in any way.
plea for help
The family was detained when the plane they were on (on its way to Toronto, Canada) was forced to make an emergency landing in Puerto Rico because a passenger had a heart attack and died inflight. The boy was born in Canada as is a citizen. Granted, the parents were not Canadian nationals and were attempting to return back after being deported. Still, it was a matter between Canada, Iran, and the family. Regardless, they were sent to Hutto. It was only after a letter written in crayon was sent by the boy to the Canadian Prime Minister (and the letter became public) that the family was granted at least temporary asylum in Canada and allowed to enter the country. Since when is it the job of American immigration authorities to interfere with other countries citizens? The case has upset quite a few people in Canada, to say the least.
The ACLU has been at the forefront of challenging the inhumanity of the Hutto facility from the outset, and in August won a settlement from The Department of Homeland Security that granted children held at Hutto such patently obvious "amenities" as privacy curtains around toilets and allowing children to have pens and paper in their rooms. Children are no longer required to wear prison garb and under the settlement head counts that forced children to be in their cells for 12 hours a day have been done away with. Read more about the ACLU case at Really Long Link
But as the ACLU states on the site, the facility still retains its original character, that of a prison. The ACLU along with other human rights groups call for a more humane way to treat families whose immigration status is in limbo. All Americans should do the same.
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