THE LONG-LASTING TRAUMA OF FAMILY DETENTION CENTERS
Crowded detention facilities filled with families and children defined President Donald Trump’s first term in office. These same facilities could define his second as well.
As The New York Times reported in early March, U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan and others have ramped up their efforts in response to Trump’s frustration over the “pace of deportations.” Buried in Trump’s barrage of attacks on immigrants and their loved ones is the alarming practice of family detention in Texas.
Shortly after taking office, President Joseph Biden halted the practice of jailing undocumented families at two of the most controversial family detention facilities in Texas: South Texas Family Residential Center (known as Dilley) and Karnes County Detention Facility (known as Karnes). Under Trump’s leadership, the practice has restarted.
As the CEO of RAICES—an immigration legal service agency working in communities across Texas—I can confirm that Karnes resumed holding families this year before families were transferred earlier this month to the even more remote Dilley, which is not a licensed childcare facility. We’ve been providing legal access to people detained in Karnes since it opened in 2014, and our team recognized the signs early this year that family detention was imminent once more.
