The Dilley Immigration Processing Center in San Antonio, Texas, has been in the spotlight lately due to the terrible conditions of the facility, which have been described as “inhumane,” with allegations that staff gave moldy or rotten food to children. Now, more information has surfaced, and it appears that staff at the Texas detention center have also been confiscating children’s drawings, letters, and even arts and crafts materials.
As reported by journalist Lidia Terraza, who interviewed a woman and her daughter who stayed at the facility, staff at the detention center began confiscating any materials made by detainees that were meant to be sent outside, regardless of whether they were adults or children. This included drawings, letters to family members describing what was happening there, and similar items, which were either torn up or confiscated in an effort to prevent information from leaking to the outside.
The interview highlights how distressing it was for the child to be in the Texas detention center, as the destruction of the drawings was seen as a violent act against vulnerable people in an already dire situation.
Considering how NBC’s previous reports about the Dilley Immigration Processing Center left many Texas residents appalled by its horrible conditions, it is not surprising that staff were afraid of more information about the facility being shared.
Texas Residents Are Horrified By What is Happening at the Dilley ICE Detention Center
The online response to how the authorities have been running the Dilley ICE Detention Center in Texas has been overwhelmingly negative, with commenters pointing out that “cruelty is the point. Even the tiniest rays of sunshine must be blocked out.” Others were especially angered that these actions were directed at children: “They have stolen these kids’ freedom, and now they want to break their spirits.”
Seeing children trapped in such horrible conditions was very hard for some people who empathized with the families of these immigrants. Among the commenters, one woman said: “As a mother myself, this absolutely breaks my heart.”
Some people went as far as comparing these ICE detention camps with the concentration camps in Germany during World War 2, saying that “Anne Frank died in a camp like this,” and that Americans should not tolerate these horrors: “It’s time to liberate the camps.”
