HOMESTEAD, FL – Today, Rep. Madeleine Dean joined Members of Congress to visit America’s only privately-run detention facility for child migrants.
Rep. Dean commented on the visit. “As Congressman John Lewis said, we’ve come to learn and bear witness. Here’s what we learned. According to officials here, 2,296 migrant children are currently housed in Homestead – yet we saw very few of them today. Instead, we saw a sanitized reality – and that reality still wasn’t acceptable. While the law permits children to be held for just 20 days, Homestead routinely houses children for 90 days or more. From what I could see, children have little access to educational opportunity. And on their eighteenth birthday, if they have not been united with a family member or sponsor, they are taken out and shackled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One child appeared to be facing that fate today, and two tomorrow.”
Yesterday, Rep. Dean visited several Customs and Border Control facilities in Texas. “The pattern is clear,” said Rep. Dean. “This administration treats migrants in unconscionable ways, dividing families and inflicting needless trauma on children that will have consequences for the rest of their lives. This cruelty and abuse must stop – now.”
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Contact: Matt Bieber, 202-251-5643
