A 6-year-old girl was sexually abused in an immigration detention center after having been separated from her mother, according to an immigrant-rights group.
Documents obtained by The Nation show the girl was abused at the Casa Glendale facility near Phoenix, Arizona, by an older child being held there. She was then made to sign a form that said she would keep her distance from her abuser.
Identified only as D.L., the girl crossed the border with her mother in El Paso, Texas, to escape gang violence in Guatemala. Two days later, the pair were separated under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. The girl was then sent to Casa Glendale, operated by Southwest Key Program, which operates 26 immigrant shelter facilities for immigrant children across the country.
The documents said the girl had “presented sexually inappropriate behavior,” prompting staff to investigate. On June 11th, the girl’s father (an undocumented immigrant living in California) received a call from Southwest Key staff telling him his daughter had been abused by one of the boys at the facility, as had several other girls.
Judge Credits, Faults Administration On Family Reunification
A federal judge commended the Trump administration for reunifying families in its custody with their children after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, while faulting it for leaving hundreds of families still apart and warning that a better system must be in place.
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said the government gets “great credit” after reunifying more than 1,800 children 5 and over with parents or sponsors by Thursday’s court-imposed deadline. He pointed out that many of the families were reunited while in custody then turned his attention to 431 children whose parents have been deported. “The government is at fault for losing several hundred parents in the process and that’s where we go next,” the judge said.
Sabraw ordered the government and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the parents, to submit written updates every Thursday on still-separated families. The order signaled slightly looser oversight than Sabraw imposed last month with frequent hearings to make sure his deadline was met.
Hillary Clinton to Help with Travel Arrangements for Immigrants Reuniting with Children
Hillary Clinton offered a helping hand to immigrants looking to reunite with their families, helping to organize transportation they might not be able to afford. She was interviewed by Laurene Powell Jobs, founder of the Emerson Collective, a nonprofit advocate of liberal causes that led the event.
“I’m going to be tweeting about this in the days to come, but if any of you work for an airline please direct message me because these families will need vouchers and discounted tickets to be reunited over these thousands of miles,” she told a crowd cheering her Saturday in Central Park when she took the stage as part of a star-studded summer festival of conversation, music and food.
