A “major policy reversal” could soon help bring an end to the horror show that is the prison camp for migrant children in Tornillo, Texas. “The government will no longer require that all adults in potential sponsor households submit fingerprints that are reviewed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Texas Monthly reports.
ICE officials have used the fingerprinting to arrest 170 people coming forward to sponsor the migrant children under a policy change instituted earlier this year, despite nearly 110 of these immigrants having no criminal record at all. With other prospective sponsors getting scared away by the arrests, more children have continued to be detained at Tornillo, and for longer periods of time.
With a major roadblock to children getting out to sponsors potentially coming down, “the most visible result of the policy change may be the closure of the Tornillo, Texas, facility that opened in June,” Texas Monthly’s Robert Moore reports. Tornillo has soared from 400 beds this past summer to 2,700 now, and is contracted through the end of the month.
Of course, potential sponsors themselves could still be vulnerable to arrest and deportation if they’re undocumented, for example. Moore later tweeted that he was “still trying to clarify if sponsor fingerprints will be shared with ICE and used for enforcement,” and if the contract will be renewed after the end of the month. But this change represents a significant reversal nonetheless.