USA: SHUT DOWN MIGRANT FAMILY DETENTION CENTER

Dear Secretary Mullin,

I am deeply concerned about the children and families that are detained in the South Texas Family Residential Center (Dilley) in Dilley, Texas, where ICE is detaining hundreds of parents and children under inhumane conditions:

• Families have been held for weeks on end, violating the Flores Settlement Agreement, which sets out minimum standards for the treatment of migrant children in government custody, including limits on the length of time that children can be detained;
• Most families never get to speak with an attorney or appear before a judge before they are deported, and many are sent back to dangerous, life-threatening conditions;
• People with chronic health conditions or medical emergencies have been denied necessary care and infants and children are experiencing alarming weight loss;
• Families have been denied access to adequate clean drinking water, forced in many cases to drink tap water that is foul-smelling and known to cause upset stomachs;
• Children frequently are not allowed access to educational opportunities or even crayons to play with.

Detaining children under any circumstances violates international law. The Dilley detention facility is cruel, dangerous, and inhumane. I urge you to end these abuses immediately: shut down Dilley and release all those detained there.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]