Carmen couldn’t sleep through the night for two years.
She hoped she would get rest after spending long days at the Berks County immigration detention center in Lessport, Pennsylvania. But rest never came for the 39-year-old mom from Honduras. Every 15 minutes, the guards would point their flashlights directly in their faces, confirming that the families were still there even though they had nowhere else to go.
The light would wake up everyone, including her toddler son. The cycle was agonizing, and it went on for nearly two years.
Carmen, who is being referred to by a pseudonym because she is an asylee and her family case remains pending, is one of the thousands of migrants who has been held in family detention.
The policy began under the Obama administration in 2014, in response to an increase in Central American families seeking asylum at the border. The practice only expanded under former President Donald Trump, who cracked down on immigration with a series of harsh policies. Women and children were held in prison-like facilities for an indefinite period of time in an attempt to deter families from seeking asylum at the southern border of the U.S.
President Joe Biden ended family detention shortly after taking office, but The New York Times reported in March that the administration was considering reinstating the practice as Title 42 ― the Trump-era policy that has allowed border authorities to swiftly expel migrants under the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic — is set to expire next week.
The White House hasn’t denied the report, even as Democrats have condemned the idea and vocally criticized Biden.
Alex Wong via Getty Images
“I’m not saying it’s being considered. … I’m not saying it is not,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said after the report came…
Read the full article here
