Nathan Hunsinger
Audio By Carbonatix
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett was one of several Texas representatives who visited an immigrant detention center on Wednesday afternoon after reports emerged that a 5-year-old boy detained by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis had been transferred to the southwest Texas facility.
Liam Ramos was taken into ICE custody alongside his father on Jan. 20 and transferred to the Dilley Detention Center 70 miles southwest of San Antonio. Ramos’ arrest caught national attention after it was caught on camera, putting his small stature, blue winter hat and Spider-Man backpack on display.
The Dilley facility is one of several in the country designed to house detainees with underage children. At least 100 immigrants living in Minneapolis with legal, refugee status have been arrested over the last two weeks, with many being sent to detention centers in Dilley and El Paso, advocates have told the Observer.
“Imagine being a free-willed, loving kiddo, and all of a sudden one day you’re thrown on a plane, you’re sent 1,500 miles away from home, and you don’t understand what’s going on,” Crockett said during a press conference after the visit. “You don’t have your mom, who is currently 4 months pregnant with your sibling, and you’ve gotten depressed to the extent you’ve stopped eating. This is the story of Liam.”
“But Liam was not the only one,” she added.
Crockett expressed outrage over conditions that she believes are worse than those allowed at prisons. She said many detainees have only one set of clothes and complained about a lack of access to clean drinking water and educational materials. Representatives were told 1,100 people are currently being held in the Dilley facility.
Over the last year, members of Congress have faced challenges when attempting to visit ICE facilities. According to ICE guidelines in place before this month, a 24-hour notice was required before facility visits by members of Congress. On Jan. 8, however, the Department of Homeland Security instituted a new policy requiring visits to be scheduled 7 days in advance. In a memo, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the policy by describing a “trend” of lawmakers visiting facilities for “circus-like publicity stunts.”
Congressman Joaquin Castro, who represents parts of San Antonio, claimed that Ramos appeared “lethargic” during the visit and that Ramos’ father voiced concern for his son’s mental health. Ramos told the representatives he wants to return to school, Castro said.
Both representatives said they are concerned about how long families are being held in the facility — some reported being detained in Dilley for months, Crockett noted — and the ages of the young children inside the center. In addition to many children of Ramos’ age, Castro said he spoke with the mother of a 2-month-old.
“There are folks who are mentally broken because of the trauma they’re experiencing in Dilley,” Castro said. “All of those people are languishing there in that trauma and uncertainty because oftentimes ICE won’t tell them when their next court date. ICE won’t tell them what’s going to happen to them.”
According to The New York Times, a federal judge has barred immigration authorities from deporting Ramos and his father, or from transferring them from the Dilley Detention Center, because their immigration court case remains pending. The Ramos family came to the United States from Ecuador, and attorneys for the family state they entered the country legally and have followed the process for asylum seeking. The Department of Homeland Security has characterized their entering the U.S. as illegal.
Calling for change within the Department of Homeland Security, Crockett urged her colleagues in the Senate not to vote for a six-bill package that would fund several federal agencies, including DHS. Since Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis ICU nurse killed by border patrol agents, Democrats have threatened to initiate a government shutdown if the DHS funding is not stripped down. A vote is expected on Thursday.
“This is terrible what is happening, and I don’t know what it’s going to take for there to be a wakeup call in this country. But I’m here to tell you we are supposed to be better than this,” said Crockett. “If you allow this to continue to happen, then you are complicit.”
