Post by bot on Jun 24, 2015 15:43:17 GMT -5
Hoyer Remarks at Press Conference Recapping House Democrats' Trip to Family Detention Centers in Texas
Hoyer: We Have a Responsibility as a Nation to Approach
This Humanitarian Issue with Compassion
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) delivered the following remarks today at a press conference with House Democrats recapping their visit to family detention centers in Texas this week:
“I was very privileged to join all of my colleagues in a visit to Karnes [County Residential Center]. I did not get to go to [South Texas Family Residential Center in] Dilley. I had to be back in town yesterday, but we went to Texas to see firsthand the conditions of the centers and the families, the women and children who were there, and to speak with them. And it is my understanding that [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Jeh Johnson] has announced that he is taking action, which is a move in the right direction. We will have an opportunity later today to speak with the Secretary and discuss further actions. But these facilities need to be closed – not expanded.
“Individuals being detained with their children in these centers have committed no crime… They have committed no crime. They have complied with U.S. law. They came and said we need refuge, we need safety, we need protection from not only domestic violence but violence from gangs and from the governments themselves of the countries from which they come. That, of course, is what America is – a country of refugees. That is why people came to America in the fifteenth century and beyond.
“Individuals being detained with their children in these centers, as I said, have committed no crime. They simply seek safety and asylum. I continue to be deeply concerned that children in these facilities lack basic health and educational resources. [Rep.] Lucile Roybal-Allard, you spoke very movingly – I was not with you at that facility – about the children. We saw medical facilities available. We did not see them being used. That does not mean they’re not used, but we didn’t see it.
“Detaining children puts them at risk of medical and developmental problems in the short term and later in life. We met with an expert at the University of Texas on child psychology and [discussed] the adverse effects detention had. On Monday, I met with a young boy named Jefferson. Today is his fourth birthday. He has spent twenty-five percent of his life in detention. Not because his mother has committed a crime [or] he has committed a crime but because that is the way America’s system is working. It is my understanding that the Secretary is going to change that system. We’ll find out further later.
“We have a responsibility as a nation to approach this issue with compassion and treat it for what it is – a humanitarian issue. We ought to treat every child the way we would treat our own children, our own grandchildren, and in my case, my own great-grandchildren. At the same time, we need to be working with the international community and aid groups to address the underlying problems of gang violence and extreme poverty that led these migrants – i.e. compelled these migrants – to flee for the safety of their children and for the safety of themselves. I also want to note that it is costing taxpayers $162 per day, per detainee at Karnes facility to jail these asylum seekers and their children.
“I hope that Secretary Johnson’s statement this morning and later today will be a very strong step in the right direction, but it is a step. Let me reiterate that I believe the best solution and the right one is to close these centers. At the same time, I hope both parties can work together in the House to advance comprehensive immigration reform. The system is broken. This is one part of a broken system. The rational response is to fix that system, and I look forward to working with my colleagues toward that end. And I thank them for giving me this opportunity to not only join them, but to speak out with them on this critically important issue. Thank you very much.”
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