Meet the people fighting for health care access for disabled kids detained at the border

[DonViejo]

Disabled kids in custody have the right to disability protections.

By s.e. smith Jun 26, 2019, 8:30am EDT

Horrific conditions at a Clint, Texas, Border Patrol facility came to light last week when attorneys visiting the site described unaccompanied children babysitting each other, premature infants without adequate care, and other horrendous circumstances, which Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply described as “concentration camps.”

While numerous human rights and civil liberties groups — including RAICES, the ACLU, the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights — are working at the border to document and fight conditions in these facilities, one type of group that’s been involved may be a surprise to some: Disability rights organizations.

Some of these organizations have a secret weapon in the form of a legal mandate that allows them to demand access to facilities that others, such as members of Congress, may struggle to get into. It’s the harsh conditions of detention centers at the border that allow many disability advocacy groups to qualify for access and join the fight for changes that can benefit both disabled and non-disabled immigrants.

“The intersection of disability and immigration is just one of the intersections that’s really important to look at, especially right now,” said Richard Diaz, who works with Disability Rights California, the state’s protection and advocacy organization. P&As are found across every state and US territory, with a mandate to defend the personal and civil rights of the disability community. When it came to the decision to get active in immigration detention facilities, “we had the responsibility to help people in these centers, just as we have the responsibility to help people with disabilities anywhere in California.”

Disability rights groups have accelerated their involvement in immigration detention in recent years. In its role as a P&A, Disability Rights California is entitled to demand access to state and private facilities if it has concerns about the wellbeing of disabled people housed there. So does Disability Rights Texas, which inspected shelters in 2018 to determine if disabled children were being housed there and whether they were receiving adequate care. Similarly, Disability Rights Florida evaluated and reported on the Homestead temporary shelter, a tent camp housing 1,350 children.

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https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/6/26/18716078/concentration-camps-border-detention-kids-immigrants-disability