This Honduran Mother Fled Death Threats—Only to Be Locked Up in the US
This Honduran Mother Fled Death Threats—Only to Be Locked Up in the US
Migrant families are being held for months in inhumane detention centers, just for fleeing violence at home.
By Michelle Chen
Today 1:51 pm
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A group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador detained at the US-Mexico border
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W When Yarinet fled Honduras to escape a partner who had threatened to kill her, she didn’t imagine where her journey would end: A barren room in Texas, where she lay stripped and drugged, bleeding from self-inflicted razor wounds, with the laughter of the staff at the detention center ringing in the background. What really hurt, though, was the pain her five year-old daughter faced as she sobbed in a nearby room.
“I had no power, no control. I could not protect her,” the 29 year-old recalled in a recent interview, recounting through a translator the weeks in detention marking the start of her family’s new life in the country where she had sought protection.
There’s no way to explain to a five year-old why she deserves to be locked up, but that hasn’t prevented the Obama administration from defending its practice of detaining Central American women and children indefinitely, as mothers like Yarinet seek to claim asylum and resettle in the United States.
Last week, the government renewed its legal battle to preserve its authority to detain migrant families, arguing that preemptive incarceration is a reasonable response to an increase in border crossings from Central America.
More:
http://www.thenation.com/article/this-honduran-mother-fled-death-threats-only-to-be-locked-up-in-the-us/
