35 legal service providers, immigrant rights, child welfare, faith-based, and civil rights organizations serving and advocating on behalf of unaccompanied children in federal
custody alerted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) about the potential harms that opening new secure facilities could have on children.
In the letter, advocates underscored how children suffered compounding harms within ORR’s so-called “secure” juvenile jails across the United States— the highest level of restriction within ORR’s network of facilities that hold unaccompanied children.
Often, these jail-like facilities detain children fleeing unspeakable forms of trauma, violence, and even torture. Rather than receive the care they need, children experience indefinite detention and abusive treatment in these secure facilities. On several occasions, these sites have been magnets for lawsuits, outrage, and condemnation from families, immigrant communities, and local governments alike. You can read the full letter below