December 4, 2015

Auschwitz in Baja San Antonio.

This might be a good April Fools article[1] but, anyhoo, human rights violations abound at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, "the largest of three facilities where the U.S. government locks up immigrant women and children who are picked up—or request asylum—at the U.S.-Mexico border."

It's described as a place "worse than a Syrian refugee camp," a place run by the Corrections Corporation of America, a "private, predatory henchman" of the United States.

These are the conditions you will find there:

  • inmates can't leave;
  • inmates closely watched by guards;
  • multiple headcounts during the day;
  • multiple bed checks at night;
  • inmates afforded little privacy;
  • kids attend school;
  • kids have constant access to milk and apples;
  • punitive atmosphere;
  • many kids have colds or coughs;
  • medical attention is slow;
  • some sick kids told by medical staff simply to drink water;[2]
  • many kids "have trouble sleeping";
  • three women report their children "depressed and not eating";
  • 11-year-old boy lost more than 10 pounds;[3]
  • kids "are going to have PTSD and need serious therapy”;[4]
  • guard caused humiliation to mother when immediately washed hand after toddler daughter touched it;[5]
  • little girl prefers deportation to experiencing ninth birthday in "prison";
  • inmates "told when to go to sleep and when to wake up";
  • "women remains stuck in prison because of bureaucratic logjamming";
  • antiseptic office in trailer;
  • child crying in playroom audible through the thin trailer wall;[6]
  • Asylum Officer "resorted to a blatantly patronizing tone"; and
  • ice cream not available.
Notes
[1] "The U.S. Is Locking Up Immigrant Children in Private Prisons Under Inhumane Conditions. The message being sent by the U.S. government is that when frightened women and children come to America seeking sanctuary, we will imprison them." By John Washington, In These Times, 7/6/15.
[2] Author: "This is the same tap water that the cook at a local drive-thru taco shop told me not to drink '’cause of the oil.'”
[3] Down from?
[4] Frivolous therapy out of the question.
[5] Mom's lucky the guard didn't wear a hazmat suit.
[6] Child being tortured?

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