TAKE ACTION: Abuse and Neglect of Migrant Children at Ft. Bliss Must Stop
At Ft. Bliss, a US border detention center in El Paso, Texas, migrant children live in alarming conditions - where disease is rampant, food can be dangerous and there are reports of sexual abuse, as an investigation by the BBC found.
Immigrants deserve to be treated with dignity. There’s no question: ICE detention has been known for abuse, pervasive medical neglect, and disregard for the dignity of people in its custody. Last year alone, reports emerged of increased use of force, solitary confinement, patterns of sexual abuse, forced sterilization, unprecedented fatality rates, and an utter failure to protect people from COVID-19 – and it is all paid for with more than three billion dollars of taxpayers’ money a year.
Detaining immigrants, specifically children, in for-profit facilities that do not look out for the best interest of these children, is wrong. Violence like that reported by @BBC will continue to thrive when there is little to no oversight and a lack of transparency. The same kind of violence experienced by adult immigrants is happening to children. Despite the global pandemic, ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continue to target undocumented people in our community.
The Biden administration promised a compassionate solution for immigrant children, but they have not delivered. So, today, we demand that this administration act with urgency to protect the safety of children. We demand justice for the most vulnerable of our community.
The Biden administration has a unique chance to shrink the architecture of immigrant detention and help repair the harm caused. We call not only on President Biden but you as well to advocate for the liberation of the thousands of unaccompanied children being held at the post, in the hopes of reunification of families.