Immigrant children detained in Virginia facility say they were beaten

Immigrant children as young as 14 housed at a juvenile detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells.

The abuse claims against the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center near Staunton, Virginia, are detailed in federal court filings that include a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens jailed there for months or years. Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.

"Whenever they used to restrain me and put me in the chair, they would handcuff me," said a Honduran immigrant who was sent to the facility when he was 15 years old. "Strapped me down all the way, from your feet all the way to your chest, you couldn't really move. ... They have total control over you. They also put a bag over your head. It has little holes; you can see through it. But you feel suffocated with the bag on."

Source

As a follow-up to my earlier thread about these ORR detention facilities forcibly medicating children, I bring your attention to another lawsuit that has been filed. It's being claimed that staff at a detention facility in Virginia are severely abusing immigrant children being held there. The reason these children were sent to this specific facility is because officials thought they were gang members. But apparently there's no evidence to support this claim. There is however evidence that many of them suffer from mental illness.

Remember that these children are not criminals. They haven't been arrested or charged for anything. They were simply unaccompanied minors crossing the border.

As I've said in other threads, I don't pin this kind of behavior on one single administration. This is a systemic issue that keeps getting overlooked. At this point the number of unaccompanied minors in the care of the ORR numbers in the tens of thousands. We're now hearing abuse stories from many of the facilities where these children are held. This is not how any child should be treated. Especially those essentially fleeing Hell on Earth.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

"Whenever they used to restrain me and put me in the chair, they would handcuff me," said a Honduran immigrant who was sent to the facility when he was 15 years old. 

How old is he now?

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Also, do you have a link?

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Want to link to the source?

Having been a paralegal, as well as my wife having been one AND a court reporter, I can definitely tell you that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

ETA:

While I agree that children, in general, should not be treated this way except in the most extreme circumstances, you must remember that there are only a handful of acceptable reasons that someone can be granted asylum in our country, and economic conditions or lack of opportunity are not on the list, and that seems to be why most people are crossing the border from the south, according to most of what I've researched.

That said, there's no reason that these kids should be detained for very long at all--if they are unaccompanied, there is a process in place for returning them to their country or granting asylum, and it should not take years by any stretch of the imagination.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Link?

Sorry about the lack of link. One has been added now.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

We've got staff from the facility corroborating their story. Is that good enough for now?

a reply to: Xcalibur254

From your link:



Those guys look pretty happy! ✌

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

Remember that these children are not criminals. They haven't been arrested or charged for anything. They were simply unaccompanied minors crossing the border.

And that is a crime... making them criminals. not saying they should be beaten but the intellectual dishonesty is astounding

a reply to: NthOther

Just wait, let's see how hard they are going to scrape the bottom.

They are getting desperate.

a reply to: NthOther

To quote what I said in my OP:

As I've said in other threads, I don't pin this kind of behavior on one single administration. This is a systemic issue that keeps getting overlooked.

But keep trying to make this a partisan issue so you can ignore the humanitarian crisis occurring in US borders with the government's approval.

a reply to: smkymcnugget420

It sounds like many of them were asylum seekers. Which means they are not criminals.

Almost all people in jail say they were beaten. It helps their lawyer file lawsuits. Is there actually any evidence? Otherwise I call BS.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Wrong--there is a child development specialist who says that she witnessed bruises on kids, and the kids said that it was the guards.

She never witnessed any abuse, so no, that is not proof, that is hearsay.

And please don't misunderstand me--I'm not assuming that this stuff didn't happen, I just need extraordinary evidence for such claims, because from what I understand, these approved facilities are subjected to checks and inspections, which would include checking on the children's physical condition.

What I don't know is how often or regularly those inspections occur now or did in the past.

In fact, it seems that this child development specialist is the one who encouraged formal complaints by the kids:

She said she never witnessed staff abuse teens first-hand, but that teens would complain to her of injuries from being tackled by guards and reveal bruises. The specialist encouraged them to file a formal complaint.

I have a friend, and she works as a corrections sergeant in the county jail, and I understand how it only takes one or two unruly detainees to start making false claims in order to get guards in trouble, and I've seen video of young kids doing the same thing in juvenile detention facilities, so I'm not very easily swayed by unproven claims.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

 children, in general, should not be treated this way except in the most extreme circumstances,

There are no circumstances where a child should ever be treated like this.
Not ever!

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Latino teens jailed there for months or years.

quoi culpas ?

a reply to: NthOther

Did you even read the part at all where he said he wasn't blaming this on any particular administration? What a childish response to an OP you didn't even fully read.

Learn to read.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

I don’t doubt it but this is a garbage story if it is trying to conflate the greater immigration policy with individual instances.. ...


If your housing kids on a large scale PERIOD your going to have misconduct.


Plus kids lie and a chance to be five minute famous at the center of some big political issue is a big win for someone’s life..on either side.. if your claiming you were wronged by immigrants or your claiming your an immigrant who has been wronged..


These are garbage stories that IF TRUE should be a centered around the offender and victims.. not the whole policy or institution.


It is a logical fallacy to take one instance and assume that is the average..


This situation is way to up front and visible..

Everyone knows if they get caught hurting the children they will be gutted publicly they will make an example out of them..

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
a reply to: smkymcnugget420

It sounds like many of them were asylum seekers. Which means they are not criminals.

This is a false claim--HOW they entered the country before seeking asylum is what determines if they violated criminal law, not what they are seeking once detained.

Matter of fact, I was just reading court documentation of a case (Ms. L v. ICE...quote from page 4, line 9) that describes how, even if you're seeking asylum, if you enter the country illegally, you are still arrested and prosecuted for illegal entry, THEN asylum procedures start after you serve your sentence:

Ms. C. Ms. C. is a citizen of Brazil, and unlike Ms. L., she crossed into the United States with her 14-year-old son J. “between ports of entry[.]” (Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss at 5.) Ms. C. and her son were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol, and Ms. C. explained to the agent they were seeking asylum. (Am. Compl. ¶ 55.) Ms. C. was prosecuted for entering the country illegally, and J. was taken away from her and sent to an ORR facility in Chicago—hundreds of miles away—for “unaccompanied” children. (Id.¶ 56.) Ms. C. was convicted of misdemeanor illegal entry and served 25 days in federal custody. (Id.¶ 57.) She completed her sentence on September 22, 2017,
and was then taken into ICE detention for removal proceedings and consideration of her asylum claim.

Can we please stop perpetuating the lie that, just because someone asserts to the government that they are here for asylum, all illegal actions prior to that are null and void?

That's not the case, and it's a lie that is furthering the divide on this topic.