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Babies Behind Bars |
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INTERPRETING AFTER THE LARGEST ICE RAID IN US HISTORY: A PERSONAL ACCOUNT |
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Written by Tony Cheek
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Thursday, 10 July 2008 |
Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D.
Florida International University
June 13, 2008
On Monday, May 12, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., in an operation involving
some 900 agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed
a raid of Agriprocessors Inc, the nation's largest kosher
slaughterhouse and meat packing plant located in the town of
Postville, Iowa. The raid ..officials boasted.. was "the largest
single-site operation of its kind in American history." At that
same hour, 26 federally certified interpreters from all over the
country were en route to the small neighboring city of Waterloo,
Iowa, having no idea what their mission was about. The
investigation had started more than a year earlier. Raid
preparations had begun in December. The Clerk's Office of the U.S.
District Court had contracted the interpreters a month ahead, but
was not at liberty to tell us the whole truth, lest the impending
raid be compromised. The operation was led by ICE, which belongs to
the executive branch, whereas the U.S. District Court, belonging to
the judicial branch, had to formulate its own official reason for
participating. Accordingly, the Court had to move for two weeks to
a remote location as part of a "Continuity of Operation Exercise"
in case they were ever disrupted by an emergency, which in Iowa is
likely to be a tornado or flood. That is what we were told, but,
frankly, I was not prepared for a disaster of such a different
kind, one which was entirely man-made. |
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Read more...
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Immigrant Holding Center to Add 250 Women |
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Written by Jina
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Monday, 04 February 2008 |
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Jan. 30, 2008, 3:08PM
TAYLOR, Texas — An immigrant detention center that holds children with their families could double in population under an agreement between Williamson County and federal officials to add up to 250 female detainees. |
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Read more...
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 19 November 2007 |
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from the Austin Chronicle:
The dirty little secret is out: The T. Don Hutto Family Residential
Center, a detention facility for immigrant families in Taylor, has
employed undocumented workers, as well as contractors
with criminal records. The revelation has put Williamson
County, which administers the center for owner-operator Corrections
Corporation of America, in an embarrassing legal bind. The
infractions, ironic as they are, were cited in an official
reprimand of CCA by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
and addressed to County Judge Dan Gattis on May 23. The reprimand
only came to light in October, when WilCo commissioners began
airing concerns about mounting liability. But it was an alleged
sexual assault of a detainee by a guard on May 19 that was the most
likely source of the county's jitters over liability. WilCo and
CCA were to "ensure that such an incident not occur again," the
reprimand stated.
Commissioners initially voted to notify
ICE and CCA of the county's intention to terminate its contract,
but they reversed course at their Oct. 9 meeting after CCA put on a
pageant to save the lucrative deal. CCA employees pleaded for their
jobs, and a teacher described her pride at teaching "Third World
children who ... don't know how to use a toilet."
It was the liability issue that most
consumed commissioners. CCA lawyer Jay Brown insisted that 2006
court decisions had strengthened commissioners' "governmental
immunity" against such claims. The court took the bait, resolving
to discuss the matter in executive session. However, the American
Civil Liberties Union, which has won 10 lawsuits filed on behalf of
26 immigrant detainees, is currently analyzing the county's
liability.
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Hutto |
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The T. Don Hutto Residential Center is an immigrant detention facility in Taylor, Texas operated by Corrections Corp of America. A former high-security state prison, it and a smaller center in Pennsylvania are the only two facilities in the United States that are authorized to hold non-Mexican immigrant families and children on noncriminal charges. Its purpose is to hold immigrant families while their applications for asylum are being considered. It began operating in the summer of 2006 and currently holds 375 prisoners, approximately 200 of which are children. Detainees are a diverse group, including single men with children, pregnant women, infants, and 17 year old boys.
Many of the inmates are from Central and South America. However, there is a significant number Africans, Asians, and Europeans. While some families do not have a valid claim for immigrant relief, many of the detainees are seeking asylum in the United States. An alien with a valid claim for asylum would have very little reason to not appear for court appearances.
The facility has been the subject of controversy. The American Civil Liberties Union has launched an investigation of alleged human rights violations, claiming a hunger strike took place there in early February, 2007 and alleging inadequate medical care and inhumane treatment of children. Attorneys representing some of the families detained at Hutto say that clients have complained of inedible food, weight loss and inadequate classroom instruction for their children. The preceeding was an article from the Wikipedia regarding the T. Don Hutto Center. |
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