Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Originally posted on Citizen Orange

I'm proud to have another link in the pro-migrant blogroll, today.  T. Don Hutto is a blog "dedicated to providing information on the growing movement to shut
down Hutto and prevent this model of immigrant detention from spreading
nationally". 

The "Don Hutto Family Residential Facility", was the first prison designed specifically for immigrant families.  It is run by the Corrections Corporation of America, the U.S.'s largest for-profit corrections company.   If the thought of profiting from one of the largest prison populations in the world isn't sickening enough, check out the information the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has on the Hutto Detention Center.  The letter I've pasted here, from a detained child identified as Kevin to the Canadian Prime Minister, has haunted my dreams.  I will quote it below.

US to probe death of immigration detainee
Sister says police refused medicine for Milford man

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | August 9, 2007

A Brazilian national arrested Tuesday afternoon on a deportation warrant in Rhode Island died shortly after he was taken into federal custody, outraging family members who said authorities ignored their warnings that he had epilepsy and needed to take his medication daily.

Edmar Alves Araujo, 34, of Milford, called his sister to say he had been detained by local police after a traffic stop. Irene Araujo said she immediately brought his medication, Gardenal, to Woonsocket police headquarters, where he was being held, only to be turned away by officers who refused to accept it.

"I told them he needed the medication, and I told them he had seizure problems," Irene Araujo said yesterday. "He can't skip a day without medication."

According to Irene Araujo's account, authorities told her that if her brother had a medical condition, he could inform them himself. She said that officers then ignored her repeated pleas that it was urgent.

"They didn't give me a chance to show them or nothing," she said. "They didn't say anything."

A spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency confirmed yesterday that Edmar Araujo died Tuesday while in federal custody. But she declined to comment on the family's assertion that authorities were warned of Araujo's epilepsy and his need for Gardenal, a phenobarbital-based drug that helps control seizures in epileptics.