They may have found their new homes in America but for these kids in Texas, their happy endings never lasted long. A 500-bed Texas federal detention facility in Karnes City is where illegal immigrant kids suffer heartbreaking emotions, as reported in The Associated Press via The Epoch Times on Tuesday.
Kenia Galeano, an immigrant who entered the United States unlawfully on November last year, said long-term detention has made kids "feel like they are in a prison" and shared that "they suffer."
Having no freedom and getting locked up against their will have left these young people depressed. Galeano revealed that kids were not used to controlled eating plans and academic class schedules inside the facility. The 26-year-old added that kids did not like the reheated food served inside the facility such as chicken and vegetables.
Meanwhile, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) defended its stance on the issue. The federal government agency even allowed a Karnes City facility tour on September last year.
During the tour, immigrant kids in the facility were visibly comfortable even under detention. Among the amenities and privileges kids enjoy inside the Texas immigration detention facility were kickball games, Spanish story reading sessions, daily school classes, outdoor play time, Internet usage, flat-screen TV shows, and hair salon services.
GEO Group, a local prison operator, runs the mentioned immigration detention in Karnes City.
ICE Spokesman, Nina Pruneda, assured the families of the kids detained in an official message released that, "ICE fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference, and all detainees, including those in family residential facilities such as Karnes, are permitted to do so."
The New York Times reported that multiple Central-American immigrants entered the country via the US-Mexican border during the past summer. Majority of these immigrants were moms with kids and minor children traveling alone.
An ICE Official FY 2014 report stipulated the following immigration data and statistics, as posted on Ice.gov:
-Of the 137,983 individuals removed who had no criminal conviction, 89 percent or 122,682 were apprehended at or near the border while attempting to unlawfully enter the country.
-The leading countries of origin for removals were Mexico Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
-Approximately 96 percent of these individuals were apprehended by CBP Border Patrol agents and then processed, detained, and removed by ICE. The remaining individuals were apprehended by CBP officers at ports of entry.
