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They call for alternatives to detention of immigrant families and children
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Groups instrumental in bringing attention to conditions at the T. Don Hutto immigrant detention center urged Congress on Wednesday to oppose legislation to build another such facility for families and children.
Joined by about 20 supporters outside the J.J. Pickle Federal Building, protesters said the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act disregards previous congressional recommendations that family detention be used only as a last resort. The bill, H.R. 4088, is in committee.
"For the SAVE Act to say we should have more facilities like Hutto I think is clearly wrong," said Barbara Hines, director of the University of Texas law school's immigration clinic.
The clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union sued federal officials last year, charging that children were held in prisonlike conditions at Hutto, a former prison in Taylor which opened in 2006 and is one of two family detentionfacilities in the country. A settlement led to broad changes in how families are treated there.
The SAVE Act targets illegal immigration by increasing the size of the Border Patrol, training state and local police in enforcement and requiring that businesses use a government program to verify employees' legal status.
Protesters said about 20 Central Texas groups signed on to a national letter that opposes family detention andis endorsed by more than 80 organizations. They include Grassroots Leadership, Catholic Charities of Central Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said this month that the agency is accepting bids for as many as three new family detention facilities that would house as many as 600 people. The government plans to make a decision before the end of the year, Kelly Nantel, an ICE spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
Opponents of family detention promote alternatives such as electronic monitoring and intensive supervision.
Nantel said ICE uses alternatives to detention, "but we also have an obligation to ensure that individuals who come into the country illegally show up for their court hearings, and the single best way to ensure that happens is through detention."
She said the population at Hutto has declined, indicating that family detention is deterring illegal immigration. The facility has 470 beds.
If the government approves new family facilities, it could decide to use Hutto for adults only, Nantel said.
jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635
