Babies in poor health at ICE-run detention facility, Dilley, Texas, says complaint -
I sent this to my Rep and Senators. Pass on to all please.
publicintegrity.org
Babies in poor health at ICE-run detention facility, says complaint – Center for Public Integrity
https://publicintegrity.org/immigration/immigration-decoded/new-complaint-alleges-babies-are-in-poor-health-at-privately-run-ice-detention-facility/
March 1, 2019
Madeline Buiano James R. Soles Fellow
6-8 minutes
A privately-run Texas detention center has been holding nine mothers with babies, including a 5-month-old, who have allegedly lost weight and aren’t sleeping or feeding properly because of abrupt changes in the availability of formula, according to a new complaint filed by three immigrant advocacy groups.
The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, is the largest family detention center in America, with capacity for 2,400 people. The private prison company CoreCivic operates the facility under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The letter of complaint — from the Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network — alleges that the number of infants held at the Dilley center is increasing at an “alarming” rate and that the institution has a troubling history of inadequate care.
“We have grave concerns about the lack of specialized medical care available in Dilley for this vulnerable population,” the complaint says. “Infants are especially vulnerable to serious illnesses, pain, disability, and even death from preventable infections and diseases.”
The complaint notes that pediatricians advise against abrupt changes in formula routines, a process that should be gradual and monitored by a doctor. The complaint also points out that the Dilley center is more than an hour away by car from San Antonio, “the nearest metropolitan center with facilities equipped to provide specialized medical services.”
The complaint was sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights staff and the department’s Office of the Inspector General.
The advocacy groups are urging officials to release the infants and their mothers, all of them Hondurans, from the South Texas facility, so they can fight their asylum cases outside of detention. As of Feb. 28, one mother and her baby had been detained at the center for more than 20 days........................
= new reply since forum marked as read
