Opinion
Published on August 5, 2014
An opinion piece by Human Rights First’s Eleanor Acer.
As unaccompanied children from Central America have arrived at the southern border in recent months, the press has extensively documented their plight. Much less discussed are the young children apprehended with their mothers.
The U.S. government recently began detaining many of them – more than 600 people at any given time – in a new facility in Artesia.
Last week I visited the center, previously a training facility for Border Patrol officers. What I saw revealed a deeply flawed approach, one that unjustly – and unnecessarily – prevents women and children from getting the protection they need and the fair process American ideals demand.
