Florida, United States.
With signs of frustration and disgust, groups of activists called on the government on Thursday Joe Biden that he does not follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Donald Trump, and dismiss the idea of reopen the detention center per undocumented minors of Homestead, Southeast of Florida.
In front of the headquarters of the municipality of this city, the activists they recognized his disbelief to repeat an order made two years ago, when the center with capacity for 1,200 minors became “a symbol “ of the strict migration policies during the mandate of the Republican.
“This is not the correct way to use this situation “, Said at a news conference Thomas Kennedy of United We Dream, the network dand immigrant youths largest in the US and who suggested the opposite reunification dI will minors with relatives in the country or its shipment to host families rather than taking them to a center that “looks like one military base“.
In addition to filtered information by the press about the possible reopening of the controversy center, located about 40 miles south of Miami and one of the largest in the country, activists noted that local groups have been aware of arrangements made for the staff recruitment.
The U.S. Department of Health (HHS) has not yet officially ruled on the reactivation of the site, which was closed in August 2019 after a national campaign of which they were part aspirants to the presidential nomination by the Party Democrat, Including the current vice president Kamala Harris.
Kennedy recalled that at that time, the senator for California came to refer to the center as “a violetsor als human rights perpetrated by the United States Government “and therefore now asked the same opposition from the” prominent place “he has in the administration of the Democrat Biden.
COMPLAINTS OF NEGLIGENCE AND ABUSE
Activists alluded to the allegations made before the closure of this center, which came to house until 2,700 undocumented minors, On cases of negligence, misconduct and sexual abuses committed against the boys and girls locked up here.
Guadalupe de la Cruz, from the American Friends Service Committee Florida, recalled a report from this organization which also highlighted the exhibition to toxic substances upon discovery — at least 16 sources of pollution less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) away from the center.
He also referred to “levels of noise not acceptables “because of the planes taking off and land on the next Base from Homestead Air Reserve.
The activist regretted that none of the suggestions had sidor heard and was reaffirmed in the order that before reopen the site a complete analysis of land, groundwater and air in the center is made, which should include the bedrooms, outdoor play area and tents.
Speaking to Efe, De la Cruz said that for each child there was “a profit of more than $ 700” that went to the company Caliburn International, which took over the management of the center when Trump reopened it in 2018 andn response to the severe repression against migrantss of his tenure, and that included the forced separation of thousands of children from their parents.
Kennedy stressed that between 2018 and 2019, the private firm received some $ 350 million of taxpayers.
Mariana Martínez, also of the American Friends Service Committee Florida, stressed that “there is no need for reopen this center “, In which even, as reported, some minors “lost”, and asked in addition “Transparency” in the process.
For her part, Melissa Taveras, of the Coalition of Immigrants of Florida, He wondered if in the midst of a pandemic it is time to consider opening a center that received complaints of overcrowding.
MIGRATION REFORM OR PRISONS
Activists called for the Party Florida Democrat must oppose en bloc the plan to reopen the center, and welcomed that some elected officials have spoken out against the idea, including the mayor of the Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, who asked the president Biden explore other options.
“It is important for our community to hear directly from the Administration of Joe Biden in the next days on plans around this facility as they work to reunite families, “he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Nikki Fried, the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, the only one Democrat in the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis, he pointed out this Thursday in a virtual forum that detention centers such as Homestead were not needed but a migration reform.
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For her part, the federal congresswoman for New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, After learning of the opening this week of a center for undocumented minors to Reed Springs, in Texass, the first of its kind during the current administration, has lamented that the U.S. immigration system “is based on a prison jail “.
In the case of Homestead, De la Cruz stressed the lack of a safety and evacuation plan in the face of a hurricane.
“It is an old infrastructure and represents a threat to the safety of children “, who deserve “dignified, quality care,” he stressed. EFE