McALLEN, TX — A new report from the Associated Press found hundreds of immigrant children are being held in detention facilities past mandated detention limits and are going without proper medical care, findings the AP attributes to court filings and legal advocates.
According to the AP, about 400 immigrant children were being held well beyond a court mandated 20-day limit, with some attorneys reporting children being held for more than five months.
The AP's reporting found that the Trump administration is trying to end the 20-day limit agreement.
Meanwhile, advocates continue to express concern surrounding family detention centers like the one in Dilley, Texas.
The Jaramillo-Solano family — a father and two children who were detained in Durango in late October — were sent to the Dilley, Texas center. As of two weeks ago, the family was still being held there.
“Those types of places are meant for mothers and their children because that's who we see come a lot across the border with children. So, we know it's a tough place for the father to be,” Enrique Arturo Orozco-Perez, co-executive director of Compañeros: Four Corners Immigration Resource Center and advocate for the family, said on Nov. 6. “We're having to send money so they can buy their basic hygienic stuff, like body soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste. It's a hard place to be, and we know that, sadly, their mental health is in a tough place.”
The AP reports Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports of child immigrant detainment lengths and conditions next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
In November, Micah Smith shared stories of Coloradans navigating the U.S. immigration system in the below special presentation. Watch "The Waiting State" here.
