Migrant prisons in Texas photos

Photos by Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.

(Above: Photos from vigil outside migrant prisons in Texas, where babies and children are also imprisoned. Photos 1 is Hutto near Austin, Texas and 2: Bayview-Raymondville.

Hutto prison denied access to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants in May as he tried to investigate the conditions.

MIGRANT BABY JAIL CELL in HUTTO, TEXAS

(Photo USA Today) A cell with a baby bed and children's toys is shown at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas. The detention facility houses immigrant families awaiting deportation. Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement describe the facility as a residential, nonsecure environment that keeps families together. However, advocacy groups say "it's a prison" and that separation and threats of separation were used as disciplinary tools on adults and children.LM Otero, Pool via APUSA Today: Migrant jails in Texas and Pennsylvaniahttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-22-immigration-detention_x.htm

Maggots in migrant food in Raymondville

Prison guard exposes maggots in migrant food at inhumane prison

http://www.kgbt4.com/Global/story.asp?S=6876377

Interview on Women's Radio online:

http://www.womensradio.com/content/templates/?a=1885&z=11

ACLU LAWSUIT OVER MIGRANT CHILDREN IN PRISON:

At the time of the ACLU's initial court filings, child detainees had to wear prison garb. They received one hour of recreation per day and opportunities to spend this hour outdoors were very rare. Children were detained in small cells for about 11 or 12 hours each day, and were prohibited from keeping food and toys in these cells, which lack any privacy.

http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/detention/hutto.html

Migrant Detention Center on Tohono O'odham tribal land in Arizona
by Brenda Norrell

SAN MIGUEL, Ariz. --This migrant detention center on Tohono O'odham tribal land, near the border in Arizona, is opposed by Tohono O'odham who say it is a violation of the Him'dag, the sacred way of being.
It is one of two migrant detention centers on tribal land, approved by the tribal government, which works with Homeland Security. (Migrants are transported by Wackenhut, notorious for human rights violations. Wackenhut is now apart of Geo Group.)
O'odham people opposing the militarization of their land say the abuses by the border agents are ignored, while migrants are subjected to inhumane treatment.
O'odham are harassed and spied on, while migrants' rapes and beatings by border agents often go unreported. (Photo Ofelia Rivas.)


AMNESTY: Migrant and refugee children in Hutto prison

Amnesty International USA's REFUGEE ACTION
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Ste. 500Washington, DC 20003T. 202.544.0200F.202.546.7142E-mail. refugee@aiusa.org
June 18, 2007

UNITED STATES: Oppose the Detention of Refugee and Migrant Children
SUMMARY: Amnesty International is concerned about hundreds of migrant children and their parents who are detained at the Don T. Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas. The Hutto building used to hold criminals before being converted to a temporary residence for refugee and migrant children. Children from Central America and other parts of the world including Greece, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq, Russia and Romania are detained at Hutto in prison cells for months at a time.
BACKGROUND: Every day, the United States government detains over 600 migrant children and their parents who are asking permission to remain here legally. Some families flee violence and war in their home countries and come to the United States hoping to be protected by our government. Others come because they want to have a better life than they left behind. When immigration officers find families who don't have permission to stay, they can lock them in facilities like Hutto until they decide whether to allow the families to remain in the U.S. Sometimes this process can take years.
The detention of families expanded dramatically in 2006 with the opening of the new 512-bed T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Prior to the opening of Hutto, the majority of immigrant families were arrested and then released from custody while they worked through their immigration cases. Hutto is a former criminal facility that houses immigrant children in prison cells. Some families with children have been detained in the facility for up to two years. The majority of children in the facility appear to be under 12 years old.
According to international standards to which the United States has agreed, asylum seekers, in particular, are not to be detained unless warranted by special circumstances. Migrants in detention are to be afforded the same rights as nationals who are detained, and even in detention, children have the right to be with their families, to get an education, to have recreational time, and to live in a place that is safe.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please contact the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, asking the government to stop holding migrant children and their parents in prison-like facilities. You can also copy your letter to the head of Hutto, and the Juvenile Coordinator for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Special thanks to Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr. for the Texas photos.

Sarah White: Navajo political lies and degradation

Navajos are tired of the lies of politicians, energy corporations and the media

By Sarah Jane White
Dine CARE

Joe Shirley Jr. President of the Navajo Nation talks about the “Big Projects” and “Navajo Nation needs jobs” showed in several articles published in July 2007, Joe Shirley, Jr. was cited as saying “some homes on the reservation have only a blanket as a door cover”, this is questionable because people hosting a Dine traditional ceremony are the ones who would have a blanket covering their doorway as a signal to the deities that there is a ceremony taking place at a particular place. It is hard to believe that statement.

Joe Shirley, Jr. has made his campaign speeches last year to improve quality of life for the Navajo people living on the reservation, including those living off the reservation, such as in Phoenix and Albuquerque. We don’t see him trying to live up to those words. Instead, is he calling on corporations to make improvements for the Navajo people on his behalf? He made a contradictory statement for being self-reliant or self sufficient.

Joe Shirley, Jr. may have over-committed the Navajo Nation for the sake of “big projects” or the corporations are calling on him to collect their fees? Recent newspaper interview indicates a sign of desperation?

Desert Rock project will only benefit a handful of people, particularly the politicians and those associated with the development, since Desert Rock, LLC, is a corporation of non-Navajo ownership. We don’t expect the middle age workforce to be working at the “big projects” listed by him. Not to mention when week after week, we see job advertisements for licensed educators and industrial jobs in the local newspapers. Who will fill these positions?

Currently there are people associated with Desert Rock trying to garner support to make it look like the Draft Environmental Impact Statement hearing were widely supported by the Navajo people when the truth is there are more people opposed to the third proposed plant. Residents of the Four Corners deserve to be heard; after all, smokes emitted by these plants know no boundaries and all will be affected by it.

Furthermore, Indian Country Today’s article “Desert Rock project: Trouble and toil for a model in the making” on July 27, 2007 reflects policies to streamline the process and that more natural resources from Indian Country be converted into energy at cheap prices.

It is time the Navajo politicians quit calling the elders “Grandmas” or Shimasani”. Most Navajo politicians are middle age and are grandparents themselves so use appropriate terms when referencing elders as so much emphasis is made on K’e (relationship/kinship) by them. The elders prefer to be called “Shima” or “Shicheii.”

In conclusion, the Indian Energy Policy Act of 2005 and its amendments have created a nightmare for the Indian Tribes across the country. The Navajo nation government is taking the lead as illustrated by local and national newspaper interviews with Joe Shirley, Jr. on the big projects, specifically the Desert Rock project.