A horror at $1000 a day
In an unlicensed facility in Berks County, women and children are being unlawfully imprisoned under dangerous and abusive conditions. Last year, a guard was arrested for raping a 19-year-old mother seven times. One rape was witnessed by an 8-year-old girl.
A 5-year-old girl with diarrhea was left untreated for three weeks. A 2-year-old girl vomiting blood was told to drink water and sent back to her room.
Last year, a federal judge ordered the detention of families in secure or unlicensed facilities was against the law and ordered the release of all families so detained.
Many of the families illegally detained are seeking asylum in the U.S., having fled violence and rampant corruption in their home countries, most often in Latin America. But some woman say the horrors they face inside the 96-bed Berks County Residential Center [BCRC] are worse than what they had escaped.
Young children already suffering from trauma are experiencing “hopelessness and depression” and having difficulty eating and sleeping, as reported in the Inquirer this week. But BCRC has no Spanish-speaking mental health staff.
Medical experts agree that detention for even a few days can damage children. But some of these children have been imprisoned for months.
This is happening now. It’s happening here.
Not in my backyard
In the wake of a shocking report from Human Rights First and increased pressure from concerned citizens and community organizations, BCRC had their license revoked by the Department of Human Services.
Unconscionably, the Berks County Board of Commissioners who run the facility have filed an appeal and while they wait for a hearing this dark facility remains open for business.
Fortunately, there are moral and more effective alternatives to detention. Recently, a community-based pilot program found 97 percent of refugees complied with all required legal proceedings and appearances. Studies have found even intensive community-based programs cost only 20 percent what it does to detain families. The cost of detaining a family of three is $1,029 a day.
While there are only two other such facilities in the country (both in Texas), there is a national fight to end family detentions. But the crisis in Berks is very much a local one. The Shut Down Berks Campaign has called for PA Human Services Secretary to issue an Emergency Removal Order and has an online petition you can sign.
The conditions at BCRC are inhumane and dangerous. Its continued operation is in violation of state regulations and federal law. In its inefficiency, it’s a particularly galling waste of tax dollars as it does not protect our communities and only harms women and children who seek safety.
Free women and children living in danger—Sign this petition for an Emergency Removal Order from the PA Dept. of Human Services.
“Is there another scenario that I would have preferred? Yes. But that scenario isn’t available,” said former candidate Ben Carson, of his reluctant endorsement of Donald Trump, who illegally promised him a job. Trump has previously hinted Carson as Education Secretary.
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“The court held that it was illegal to detain families based on deterrence. It made clear that the government cannot deprive individuals of their liberty merely to send a message to others,” the ACLU’s Judy Rabinovitz. CLICK IT!