Los Angeles Times
By Nigel Duara
May 21, 2015
Two
House Democrats from California called for the Department of Homeland
Security to end its practice of holding families seeking asylum in
jail-like detention centers
while they wait for their cases to play out.
Rep.
Zoe Lofgren of San Jose said that after visiting Syrians who had fled
to Jordan to escape violence in their homeland, she found the conditions
under which immigrant
women and children are being held in the U.S. more appalling.
“The
Jordanians are treating the refugees from Syria a heck of a lot better
than we’re treating immigrants from Honduras,” Lofgren said.
Lofgren
was joined at a news conference in Washington by Reps. Lucille
Roybal-Allard (D-Downey) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and a former
detainee, Maria Rosa Lopez. The
three representatives have been frequent critics of federal immigration
policy.
A
surge of women and children from Central America last summer
overwhelmed the U.S. immigration system. As a short-term fix, the
government placed those seeking asylum
in mass detention centers, where many remain today.
Last
week, the Homeland Security Department ordered a wide-ranging review of
its detention facilities, something it says will improve conditions.
But
Gutierrez dismissed the review ordered by the department as “cosmetic
issues” that fail to address the broader problem, detention itself.
In
the past, asylum seekers were permitted to live with relatives already
in the U.S. while their cases were adjudicated, something Gutierrez said
should continue now.
“It’s
violence to keep a child in jail,” he said. “You should not be punished
because there is no protection in the country that you’re fleeing
from.”
Immigration
officials have defended the facilities. Gillian Christensen, a
spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said this month
that for immigrants awaiting
court decisions, family detention centers are a “humane alternative for
maintaining family unity.”
“Family
residential centers are one of many tools used to address the growth in
apprehensions of parents and children at our southern border,”
Christensen said.
Lopez
was detained with her son after fleeing Honduras. They were held for
six months at the Karnes City, Texas, detention center.
The water at the facility tasted bad, so the families bought bottled water. But at $1 each, Lopez said, they had to conserve.
“My son kept telling me, 'Get me out of here, get me out of here,' but I couldn’t,” she said.
Lopez
said she posted bond, but an clerical error delayed her release. Her
son threatened to jump off the facility’s roof if she couldn’t get him
out.
"Other sons have told their mothers, ‘I want to kill myself,’ because they’ve been here so long,” Lopez said.
Dree
Collopy, a volunteer attorney with the American Immigration Lawyers
Assn., said those in the detention centers meet the criteria for
obtaining asylum.
“I
can say that, without a doubt, these women and children are refugees,”
Collopy said. “They have come here seeking protection from the horrific
violence they have suffered.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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