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Top congressional Democrats visited Tornillo, Texas, this past weekend to call for the end of the Trump administration’s prison camp for migrant children. Tornillo initially held 400 children; it has now soared to more than 2,700 children. "We need to shut Tornillo down," said Rep. Judy Chu of California. "It is inhumane. It is a child prison. It has no right to exist."
In addition to massively bloating in size, officials had also claimed this past summer that Tornillo was going to be temporary (not that it matters—this desert gulag shouldn’t exist for even one day), but it was extended numerous times. Tornillo’s contract with the company running Tornillo is set to end at the end of the year, and lawmakers are calling on BCFS to not renew it. The reason that probably won’t happen is money, pure and simple.
”The United States has spent more than $144 million to operate the shelter since it opened in June,” El Paso Times reported, and one of the visiting Democrats, Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, said that’s only half of what has been designated to fund this prison camp. "This is a great deal for the contractor, a terrible deal for the kids who are trapped inside and an awful deal for the U.S. taxpayer,” he said.
Trapped inside intentionally, that is. These children, all of whom are minors who journeyed to the U.S. by themselves, could be released to sponsors already here, including relatives. Could be, but immigration officials have instead been arresting them.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 170 immigrants, CNN reported earlier this month, who have stepped forward to potentially sponsor these kids, despite nearly 110 of them having no criminal record at all. What this has has led to is more children being jailed at Tornillo, for longer periods of time, and at greater risk of lasting trauma.
"The few times they let me call my mom I would tell her that one day I would be free, but really I felt like I would be there for the rest of my life,” said one teen who was jailed there earlier this year. “I feel so bad for the kids who are still there. What if they have to spend Christmas there? They need a hug, and nobody is allowed to hug there." Or visit with them either, even if it’s a federal official.
“We wanted to talk with the young people here and when I asked why we couldn’t talk to them, I was told that we shouldn’t interrupt their schedule," said Sen. Mazie Hirono alongside Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Tina Smith of Minnesota. "There’s probably a word for that and it’s called BS.” Damn right.