We demand that the federal prison in Tornillo, Texas, be shut down, that all the children be released to relatives or sponsors, and that no similar prisons be built. None of the children have been accused of any crime. They are being used as bait to lure relatives who might claim them but could then be deported themselves. Imprisoning the children is unnecessary, cruel, and traumatic, causing long-lasting harm.
Why is this important?
The Trump administration opened the prison in the Texas desert as a model for a string of prisons it wants to build along our border to house asylum seekers and other immigrants. It has manufactured a crisis by slowing the process of reuniting families, causing thousands of children to be incarcerated for long periods of time. In addition to the threat of deportation for relatives in the U.S., the threat that children will be imprisoned is intended to frighten people from coming to this country in the first place. This prison is a disgrace and is contrary to everything our country is supposed to stand for. If allowed to continue, it would set a dangerous precedent and could lead us in a direction that history teaches us we must not go.
