Obama administration warns of wave of illegals crashing borders.
By Raif Karerat
Follow @ambazaarmag
WASHINGTON, DC: Five immigrant mothers held in U.S. facilities with their children are seeking millions of dollars in damages from the federal government due to psychological and physical harm as a result of being detained.
According to the Associated Press, Andrew Free, a Nashville immigration lawyer representing the women, filed tort claims against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging the detained women and their children received inadequate medical care, suffered psychological trauma and in some cases were wrongfully imprisoned.
The tort claims, which are precursors to a federal lawsuit, also target U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Free stated the conditions at the centers have “fallen below the standard of care that they owe to these detainees,” who are from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Gillian Christensen, a spokesperson for ICE, told the AP that the centers provide “open environment” and are “an effective and humane alternative for maintaining family unity as families go through immigration proceedings or await return to their home countries.”
Per the Associated Press:
Claimants in the 60-page filing, all from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador, include a woman who said she received poor care for an injured ear because she could not speak to the medical staff in her indigenous language. Another said her children were among 250 kids given an erroneously high dose of a hepatitis A vaccine, despite their having proof of previous vaccination. A mother and daughter fleeing gang violence and held for more than six months were both diagnosed by a psychologist with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression exacerbated by their long detention.
A Honduran mother reported that her 8-year-old daughter attempted to breast-feed again, and another woman and her son said they had languished in detention for 28 days after having passed their credible fear interview, the first legal hurdle for asylum. When the same woman sought treatment for her broken fingers and wrist, she was allegedly told to “drink more water” by medical staff and her son was rushed to the hospital after “a virus apparently had gone untreated for a dangerously long time,” according to the court papers.
Meanwhile, ABC affiliate KVIA reported that the Obama administration is fighting against an order by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee that thousands of detainees be set free due to the “deplorable” conditions under which they’re being held.
“The immediate release of immigrant families from detention facilities could cause another massive wave of illegal migration like the one Texas witnessed last summer,” the Obama administration argued in an Aug. 6 court filing.
1 Comment
These roaches are no asylum seekers. Gas them all.