Several family members with loved ones at the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement field office in Dallas claim conditions inside the facility are “inhumane.”
Sunday evening, community members showed up to hold a vigil outside the building in an effort to speak up about the conditions inside.
“We here today for several reasons, the first being to bear witness and acknowledge what our neighbors have worked so hard to tell us, to reach us from inside of that room where inhumane conditions are being manufactured by ICE in order to produce signed deportations,” claimed Noemi a volunteer with Vecinos Unidos, Neighbors United, DFW, a grass roots organization.
People held signs, chanted and gave speeches outside the building near I-35 in Dallas.
Gabriela Perez, a high school graduate with plans to attend Texas State in the fall, said her father, uncle and cousins were detained last week in Fort Worth.
“I’m here fighting for my dad’s rights, fighting for my uncle’s rights, fighting for everybody’s rights,” said Perez. “I’m here trying to bring light to what’s happening in this place to show everyone that it’s worth speaking out for your family members or for any other person that you know that are going through situations like these. ”
She said her father was picked up last Wednesday by immigration agents as he and his brothers and nephews were on their way to work.
“He was forced to get out the the car with no type of warrant or anything,” claims Perez.
She said her father has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, but is originally from Guatemala. Perez said she was trying to help him gain citizenship.
She said her father was taken to the facility in Dallas for intake, but her father and cousins were transferred to a detention center in South Texas. She said her uncle was taken to the location in Alvarado.
“We talked to him, [her father] Wednesday night because he told us that he was forced to sign his deportation papers, because the agent had told them that he had no type of bond,” said Perez. “I’m just scared that I won’t be able to see my dad again, my uncle and my cousins.”
“Gabby reached out to us to show that her dad was actually one of the folks that was in there and that had been moved to a different facility, but she wanted folks to know that in fact things are happening inside and inhumane treatment is happening inside,” said Sandra Avalas with Vecinos Unidos DFW.
According to two women, who asked NBC 5 to conceal their identities to protect their spouses, said their husbands were detained during routine ICE check-ins within the last week and held at the field office for days.
“He told me they were crowded, that there were around 30 people in a single cell, that they couldn’t bathe, that they were only given frozen food,” said one woman.
“There are no beds or chairs. It’s a room with a toilet seat where everyone has to turn around when someone wants to relieve themselves,” said the other.
Late Friday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement disputing the claims:
“ICE has legal authority to temporarily house illegal aliens while they are being processed after their arrest. Any allegations that these processing centers do not have beds, running water, or other basic essentials are FALSE.
ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. ICE is regularly audited and inspected by external agencies to ensure that all ICE facilities comply with performance-based national detention standards.”
People in the community said they do not believe the statement.
“It’s a tactic for them to deny. It’s a tactic for them to gaslight us, and you know, making us believe this is not happening. But we know for a fact, that it is. We’re receiving calls from family members, we’re receiving calls from loved ones on the conditions,” expressed Avalas. “Some of them share how they’re down in their under garments because of how hot it is in there. How they don’t know what time it is. Some of them don’t have spaces where there are windows, so they don’t know what day or time it is. So imagine that in the U.S. facility that we are having humans like this with no criminal background. The only thing that we’re doing is that we’re doing a check-in.”
Great Job Sophia Beausoleil & the Team @ NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth Source link for sharing this story.
