[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E897-E898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN RECOGNITION OF THE TERRIBLE CONDITIONS WITNESSED AT DETENTION 
      FACILITIES BY REPRESENTATIVES OF IMMIGRANT FAMILIES TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 11, 2019

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to express 
concern

[[Page E898]]

about the horrendous treatment of immigrants at detention facilities. A 
community-based organization in my district, Immigrant Families 
Together (IFT), has been helping immigrant families settle in the 
United States. They have provided legal aid, food, shelter, clothing, 
household goods and other assistance. In the course of their work, they 
have collected some horrific stories from the people they have helped.
  The stories range from inadequate medical treatment to sexual abuse 
to refusal to provide food, water and blankets. There are reports of 
adults and children being denied necessary medication, including a girl 
who suffered seizures who was put on a bus without her medication. 
Women at a facility in Elloy, Arizona were reportedly given one meal a 
day and ten minutes to eat. There are also reports that women at this 
facility were denied water for 3 days. Women at this facility also 
claim that their laundry was done in unsanitary conditions that allowed 
lice to infest their clothing.
  One four-year-old boy was held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
(ICE) custody in Dallas, Texas for roughly two months during the summer 
and fall of 2018. On his way to the U.S. border he had broken a femur 
and dislocated a hip. Although the boy was clearly injured and ICE took 
him to the hospital for examination, ICE refused to pay for his 
surgery. Reportedly, ICE simply gave him Tylenol for two months until 
he was released. Following his release, IFT paid for his surgery.
  In Texas, a mother and her one-year-old infant were held first in the 
`icebox' for two days and later in the `Dog Pound' for four days. The 
mother and child were given one aluminum blanket for the two of them. 
When the mother asked for a second blanket, an ICE officer screamed at 
her. The infant became very sick on their third day in the `Dog Pound,' 
with vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. An ICE doctor examined the 
child. Rather than prescribing treatment, he recommended release. IFT 
believes that they were released so that the baby's condition would not 
be ICE's responsibility. The mother and child were put on a bus for New 
York City, but the baby nearly died in New Jersey and was taken to an 
emergency room where he was given fluids that enabled him to survive.
  A pregnant teenager was released from Office of Refugee Resettlement 
(ORR) custody in California one week before giving birth. After she 
gave birth, it was discovered that she had a urinary tract infection 
that was so severe that she had a kidney infection.
  One father related that his six-year-old daughter was sexually 
assaulted by a boy at an ORR facility in Casa Glendale, Arizona. She 
reportedly was told it was her responsibility to stay away from him and 
was told to sign a document asserting that she understood her 
obligation. A couple of weeks later, the same boy assaulted her again 
and hit her.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in condemning a system 
that treats immigrants with such brutality and lack of compassion.

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