On Monday December 15, 2014 the largest family detention center in the United States was opened 85 miles northeast of Laredo, Texas. The Dilley Detention Facility, also known as the South Texas Family Residential Center, was built to hold up to 2,400 immigrant mothers and children. Detainees will begin to arrive at the Dilley Detention Center in the coming days as the final detainees are transported to Dilley from the Artesia Facility, which will be closed. The Dilley Detention Facility will be managed by the Correction Corporation of America, a private prison company, and will cost taxpayers approximately $296 every day to house each individual detainee. Many families being detained at the Dilley Detention Facility are fleeing from persecution in their home countries and are in the United States to seek asylum. We extend our gratitude to all the volunteer attorneys in Artesia and Dilley who have donated their time to help the many immigrant families in detention.
Democrats from the House of Representatives Condemn DHS’s Family Detention Program
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.