Hell In Hutto
"Nazmieh Juma Hazahza said there is only one way to describe her experience at the Hutto facility where she lived with her 11-year-old son, Mohammad: like being in hell. "A prison is a prison, no matter what. ... For me it was very hard, being there day after day, each day worse than the next one," said Mrs. Hazahza, who was released from the detention center Wednesday evening after spending more than three months in custody." PAUL MEYER and FRANK TREJO in the Dallas Morning News.
Stung by criticism over the jailing of eleven- (and three- and five-year-olds,) ICE slapped some paint on the place, fed pizza to the prisoners for the first time, and invited the press to visit. (And promised to remove the barbed wire.) "[G]uards told the Chronicle in separate interviews this week that the Hutto center was being sanitized, or "prettied up," for the media tour, with furniture, artificial trees and other amenities appearing in the facility immediately prior to the tour." LISA FALKENBERG in the Houston Chronicle.
"Khadijah Bessuges is confined by metal gates and razor wire. She wears a uniform. She sleeps in an 8-by-15 cell, and stands by her cot four times a day when the guards count heads. She has only two pairs of panties. Her favorite teddy bear was confiscated. But she has her father, Sebastien, who sleeps in the cell with her. Khadijah is 9 years old." NICOLE GAOUETTE and MIGUEL BUSTILLO in the Los Angeles Times.
There are alternatives, but ""our basic approach is detention," said Gary Mead, assistant director for detention and removal at Immigration and Customs Enforcement." JUAN CASTILLO in the Austin American-Statesman.