The Deplorable Conditions One Whistleblower Witnessed At A Family Detention Center

[Judi Lynn]

The Deplorable Conditions One Whistleblower Witnessed At A Family Detention Center
by Esther Yu-Hsi Lee Jul 27, 2015 2:53pm

A social worker has come forward to talk about the deplorable conditions she witnessed at a family detention center in Texas built in response to the large increase of Central American migrants that came across the southern U.S.-Mexico border last year.

At a Judiciary Democrats’ Forum on Family Detention set for Tuesday, Olivia Lopez, a whistleblower who worked at the Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes, Texas, will testify that she saw young children who regressed developmentally, detainees who were placed in isolation for speaking out, and superiors who wanted a “clean paper trail” because the facility was under constant audits, McClatchy DC first reported.

In an interview with McClatchy, Lopez said, “I walked in and thought, ‘oh my Lord, this is really a prison.'” She said that while there were state-of-the-art medical equipment and recreational activities for both mothers and children, the detainees were always locked up and that “they know they’re in a prison. They know they can’t leave.”

Lopez also indicated that if a migrant mother had an issue, Lopez was only able to write down what the detainee asked and give her information on how to access services. Because the facility was the subject of various audits, Lopez stated that she had to ensure a “clean” document. “If a document is clean, there aren’t any follow-ups,” she told the paper. “The audit stops at the document.”

More:
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/07/27/3684661/karnes-detention-whistleblower/

[fasttense]

1. I thought that white RepublCONS were going to be rounded up

And put in those Detention Centers. It's a misuse of government facilities to put those poor immigrants in there. Those places were not designed to house normal people. No wonder those poor immigrants are suffering so.