ACLU Comment on ICE Opening of Additional Detention Facility in Texas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org
WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that it will open and operate a new family detention center in Dilley, Texas in response to the influx of families apprehended along the southwest border.
The facility is expected to open in early November, making it the fourth facility the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using to detain families that cross the Southwest border.
“We’re extremely disappointed in the administration’s decision to dramatically expand the warehousing of vulnerable mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America,” said Laura W. Murphy, Director of ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. “In just a few short months, the family detention system will have increased from just 90 beds to almost 4,000. History shows us that imprisoning families limits access to due process, harms the physical and mental health of parents and children, and undermines the family structure by stripping parents of their authority. Rather than incarcerating thousands of mothers and children, DHS should be investing in effective, humane, and far less costly alternatives to detention.”
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