12.19.06
AAS Editorializes On Jailing Children In Taylor – [UPDATED]
Here’s the link and a couple of excerpts, Putting children behind bars in Taylor:
There has to be a better way. It cannot be right to imprison children guilty of nothing more than following their parents into the United States illegally.
The American-Statesman’s Juan Castillo recently reported on a private prison in Williamson County where families of illegal immigrants are held to await disposition of their cases. It is one of two Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the United States holding non-Mexican unauthorized immigrants on noncriminal charges.
[...]
According to those familiar with the families in the private prison, children of those apprehended are dressed in prison jumpsuits and receive only one hour of schooling and one hour of recreation a day. The trade-off is that they get to remain with their families.
Hard information on the program and the private prison is difficult to come by. The company running the prison refers questions to the immigration office, and the immigration office has had little to say about the situation.
News of the 400 people — 200 of them children — being held in the T. Don Hutto unit in Taylor has sparked protests from several groups interested in immigrant issues. They are concerned about everything from care and feeding of those being held to the psychological effect of incarceration on children and families.
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Little kids in prison jumpsuits and nametags presents a sad picture. Children are truly at the mercy of their parents, and incarceration cannot be good for their physical, mental or emotional health.
For reasons of security and the law, a close watch on the nation’s borders is warranted. But what isn’t acceptable is jailing mothers and children awaiting a hearing on their status.
There has to be a better way.
It’s helpful for the government to hand this off to a private corporation. Like so many other “public-private partnerships” it allows the government pass the buck and say, “It’s not us”. Then the corporation, more than likely, has some kind of non-disclosure agreement with the government, or they wouldn’t have taken the job. That’s why it’s hard to find out what’s going on in there. See, in order for the corporation to make a healthy profit they’ve got to cut everything inside that “residential facility” to the bone.
Kudos to the AAS for printing this and keeping it in the news.
[UPDATE]: More here from the Taylor Daily Press, Protesters target T. Don Hutto center:
“The world needs to know, the state needs to know and Taylor needs to know what is going on here,†he said. “I don’t think a lot of people in Taylor even know about this place. It’s a gulag right here in America. We go around promoting freedom and democracy all over the world and look what we’re doing to our neighbors in the south.â€
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Jose Orta, founding member of the Taylor League of United Latin American Citizens Council, said the organization has launched an ongoing lobbying effort for immigration reform.
“LULAC acknowledges that our immigration system is broken. We have lobbied and continue to work toward comprehensive immigration reform,†he said, “immigration reforms that take into account national security, our economy and especially humanitarian needs. We believe that our nation should legislate policies that support families and keep them together.
“We need to treat all people with compassion and dignity and not as criminals. After all, we are a nation of immigrants, let us not forget this,†he said.