This week, thirty-two Democrat House Representatives led by Representative Zoe Lofgren from California signed a letter sent to President Obama to express their concerns regarding DHS’s potential expansion and continuation of Family Detention. At present, DHS operates three family detention centers across the country: Artesia, Karnes, and Berks. These three facilities house more than 1,000 women and children, many of whom are fleeing from persecution in their home countries. DHS is considering opening a fourth family detention facility in Dilley, Texas in the near future. As proposed, this facility would have the capacity to house approximately 680 women and children with a possible expansion to 2,400 beds in 2015.
Representative Lofgren’s letter to President Obama raises three chief concerns with the current operation of family detention that would be exacerbated through the opening of the Dilley Facility. These concerns include: 1) no-bond or unreasonably high bond determinations; 2) discrepancies in credible fear rate; and 3) the absence of child care in the above-mentioned family detention facilities.
Given these concerns, Democratic Representatives urge President Obama to put a stop to the expansion of family detention through the Dilley Facility until these primary concerns are adequately addressed and corrected.