IN RECOGNITION OF THE TERRIBLE CONDITIONS WITNESSED AT DETENTION FACILITIES BY REPRESENTATIVES OF IMMIGRANT FAMILIES TOGETHER; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 116
(Extensions of Remarks - July 11, 2019)
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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E897-E898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN RECOGNITION OF THE TERRIBLE CONDITIONS WITNESSED AT DETENTION
FACILITIES BY REPRESENTATIVES OF IMMIGRANT FAMILIES TOGETHER
______
HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to express
concern
[[Page E898]]
about the horrendous treatment of immigrants at detention facilities. A
community-based organization in my district, Immigrant Families
Together (IFT), has been helping immigrant families settle in the
United States. They have provided legal aid, food, shelter, clothing,
household goods and other assistance. In the course of their work, they
have collected some horrific stories from the people they have helped.
The stories range from inadequate medical treatment to sexual abuse
to refusal to provide food, water and blankets. There are reports of
adults and children being denied necessary medication, including a girl
who suffered seizures who was put on a bus without her medication.
Women at a facility in Elloy, Arizona were reportedly given one meal a
day and ten minutes to eat. There are also reports that women at this
facility were denied water for 3 days. Women at this facility also
claim that their laundry was done in unsanitary conditions that allowed
lice to infest their clothing.
One four-year-old boy was held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) custody in Dallas, Texas for roughly two months during the summer
and fall of 2018. On his way to the U.S. border he had broken a femur
and dislocated a hip. Although the boy was clearly injured and ICE took
him to the hospital for examination, ICE refused to pay for his
surgery. Reportedly, ICE simply gave him Tylenol for two months until
he was released. Following his release, IFT paid for his surgery.
In Texas, a mother and her one-year-old infant were held first in the
`icebox' for two days and later in the `Dog Pound' for four days. The
mother and child were given one aluminum blanket for the two of them.
When the mother asked for a second blanket, an ICE officer screamed at
her. The infant became very sick on their third day in the `Dog Pound,'
with vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. An ICE doctor examined the
child. Rather than prescribing treatment, he recommended release. IFT
believes that they were released so that the baby's condition would not
be ICE's responsibility. The mother and child were put on a bus for New
York City, but the baby nearly died in New Jersey and was taken to an
emergency room where he was given fluids that enabled him to survive.
A pregnant teenager was released from Office of Refugee Resettlement
(ORR) custody in California one week before giving birth. After she
gave birth, it was discovered that she had a urinary tract infection
that was so severe that she had a kidney infection.
One father related that his six-year-old daughter was sexually
assaulted by a boy at an ORR facility in Casa Glendale, Arizona. She
reportedly was told it was her responsibility to stay away from him and
was told to sign a document asserting that she understood her
obligation. A couple of weeks later, the same boy assaulted her again
and hit her.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in condemning a system
that treats immigrants with such brutality and lack of compassion.
____________________