The decision to grant a child-care license to a jail-like, for-profit detention center in Texas is a major setback to justice for asylum-seeking mothers and children on the run from life-threatening conditions in Central America and elsewhere, said Archi Pyati, the Director of Policy and Programs at Tahirih Justice Center.
In response to the concerning news, she released the following statement:
“I am deeply disappointed that Texas authorities have seen fit to award a license for child care to an immigration jail. Children who come to this country seeking refuge along with their mothers have experienced significant hardship and trauma, and they should never be forced to live in an immigration detention center. This inhumane practice should be stopped, not rubber-stamped by state authorities.”
The New York Times reported on May 2 that the detention center in Karnes City, Texas was awarded a child care license.
Last year, a federal judge in California found the Department of Homeland Security in violation of Flores v. Johnson, a 1997 settlement that protects immigrant children from being detained, and she ordered the Obama administration to release children from detention centers. The administration appealed the ruling.
To learn more about how Tahirih is advocating for asylum-seeking mothers and children in jail-like detention centers in the United States, please:
