Immigrants In Prison: Detention Center In Texas Punishes Children Migrants By Restricting Crayons

[Sunlei]

Migrant children detained at Karnes County Residential Center, a Texas detention camp, are being prohibited from using crayons, according to a Guardian report released Thursday. The visitation room is the only area of the facility that has implemented the new restrictions after staff members discovered property had been damaged by crayon markings. Lawyers helping mothers and children at the center are outraged by the new restriction and said the ban on crayons is unnecessary.

The Karnes federal immigrant detention center, located just south of San Antonio, has stirred controversy since converting from a male prison to a family immigration camp in 2014. Migrants residing in the detention center have reported instances of sexual abuse on women, lack of medical care and harsh living conditions. A 2014 report by CNN said that women in the facility suffered sexual abuse from other immigrants living in the center as well as guards and other workers. Women reported being asked for sexual favors in exchange for money and legal help, while some reported being taken from their cells for sex at night and being fondled by Karnes workers in front of others.

The Karnes facility, ran by private prison company GEO Group, Inc., holds 500 beds including 266 unities designed for families. Along with detainees living in Karnes’ counterpart camp, Dilley Residential Center, more than 1,800 immigrants reside within the two camps. Karnes is expected to be reverted back into an adult male facility sometime in 2017.

http://www.ibtimes.com/immigrants-prison-detention-center-texas-punishes-children-migrants-restricting-2448439

[rzemanfl]

1. Why are crayolas more important than sexual abuse? n/t

[Sunlei]

2. millions of people are abused in Americas 'for profit' prisons, including the woman & children.