On February 23rd, the Miami Herald announced that the Biden administration planned to reopen the Homestead detention center for unaccompanied migrant teens, one of the largest in the country. The center was closed late in August of 2019 after creating a national controversy about the overcrowded conditions in which the children were housed making it the largest center in the country, alleged sexual abuse and the lack of hurricane safety and evacuation plans.
“This is inexcusable. Detaining children is harmful, criminal and a violation of their human rights.”
Lis Marie Alvarado, American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Florida also released a report about the potential toxic and noise exposure endangering children which has not been addressed.
“It is wild and outrageous that, while President Biden is calling for ‘family unity,’ he is opening a temporary influx detention center for immigrant children. Much less, a detention center that his own Vice President Kamala Harris visited during the campaign and publicly condemned,” stated Lis Marie Alvarado, Director of American Friends Service Committee in Florida.
“This is inexcusable. Detaining children is harmful, criminal and a violation of their human rights. In addition, they will be detaining them in a place that could expose them to toxic chemicals from a neighboring Superfund site and to excessive noise from planes taking off and landing at the nearby Homestead Air Reserve Base runway.
“Under no circumstances, no children, either accompanied or unaccompanied, are to be held in detention centers. Rather, they are to be reunited with their families. We condemn the Homestead Detention Center. We shut it down before and we will do it again.”
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