Former U.S. President Donald Trump's second administration revived the 'family detention' policy, which detains illegal immigrants accompanied by young children. This policy was abolished by the previous Joe Biden administration on the grounds of being 'inhumane.'
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 17th (local time), illegal immigrants have recently begun to be family detained at the Karnes detention facility in southern Texas. Another detention facility in Texas, DILLI, is also expected to resume family detention soon. This facility is known to accommodate up to 2,400 individuals.
Advisory attorneys at a refugee and immigrant education legal service center based in Texas testified that they recently found more than 12 families in Karnes. The illegal immigrants detained here have lived in the United States for a minimum of three weeks to a maximum of ten years, originating from various countries including Angola, Brazil, Colombia, and Iran.
The family detention facility was first established in 2006 in the Herto area of Texas by former President George W. Bush. Subsequently, in 2014, former President Barack Obama expanded the family detention policy by opening new family detention facilities in Karnes, DILLI, and Artesia, New Mexico as the number of immigrants crossing the U.S. border to flee gang violence surged.
President Trump also actively pushed for family detention during his first administration. In particular, Trump's first administration prosecuted all illegal immigrants under the 'zero tolerance policy,' resulting in a large-scale 'family separation' issue as parents and children were placed in prisons where they could not be together.
The Biden administration promised a humanitarian immigration policy and released family units of illegal immigrants from detention facilities. However, Tom Homan, named the 'border czar,' pledged to revive family detention and to detain and deport illegal immigrants who have children born in the United States.
There are rising criticisms of human rights violations regarding the family detention under the Trump administration. Human rights organizations and religious groups have already criticized family detention, and immigration lawyers argue that family detention facilities have a long history of legal violations, inadequate medical services, and sexual abuse leading to legal battles.
Child rights attorney Lisia Welch noted, 'I have spoken with hundreds of detained children,' saying, 'The children hardly get outside and don’t see sunlight. They are left in the cold wearing dirty clothes without any toys.'
A Venezuelan family with two children aged 6 and 8 is one of the first families detained in Karnes under the current administration. After living in Ohio for about two years, they decided to immigrate to Canada following Trump's inauguration, but were repatriated back to the U.S. while crossing the northern U.S. border. The family was detained for 20 days at the Buffalo border facility before moving to Karnes.
The family's attorney, Laura Flores-Dixit, said, 'It is unacceptable for families trying to leave the U.S. to be detained for a long time with young children,' adding, 'Detaining children is never a humanitarian solution.'
Minister Kristi Noem stated in an interview with CBS that 'we have created a system and website where people currently residing illegally can register,' adding, 'They have the option to voluntarily return to their home country and live with their families.'