What is Family Detention? [AUDIO]

 

A federal judge says it’s suspended. The 21 day maximum stay is for processing, not detention.

The news says there are three remaining family holding facilities in the nation.

Google Maps says it’s Leesport, Pennsylvania.

The for-profit prison administrator says it’s a job creator.

Immigration and Custom Enforcement says it’s a family residential center effective for maintaining family unity.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services wants to say it’s a licensed childcare facility.

Google Maps says it’s Karnes City, Texas.

The ACLU and Grassroots Leadership says it’s baby jail.

The public affairs representative says it’s meeting our government partner’s stated needs with dignity and safety.

The Texas House and Senate want to say it’s exempt from childcare facility licensing requirements.

Google Maps says it’s Dilley, Texas.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says it’s inappropriate for children.

Border Patrol says it’s getting the job done.

412 people call it home, for now.

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Abigail Carl-Klassen has been published in ZYZZYVA, Cimarron Review, Guernica, Aster(ix) and Post Road. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets 2015. She earned an MFA from the University of Texas El Paso’s Bilingual Creative Writing Program and taught at El Paso Community College and the University of Texas El Paso.

________

Trump Could Roll Back Decades Of Progress That Made Immigrant Detention More Humane
[Huffington Post]

White House Greenlights a New Immigration-Detention Center in Texas
[Texas Tribune]

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