Editorial: Those Families Must Be Released

A prison is a prison. You may have clean facilities, game rooms, class rooms and medical care, but guardians still rule and you are not free to go out. Those life conditions are unacceptable for women and kids fleeing violence in their countries.

This type of confinement did not use to exist. A few years ago, parents and children who entered the country illegally were usually detained for a couple of weeks before being released. The majority of them would then stay with their relatives while they waited for their cases to be heard through the immigration courts.

This changed after the arrival to the U.S. border of tens of thousands of Central Americans between October 2013 and September 2014, as they were fleeing violence in their respective countries. The anti-immigrant reaction caused by this phenomenon prompted the Obama administration to change course and, instead of continue the closing of this type of detention centers, he expanded them and also extended the detention period.

The detention, which used to be part of the simple migratory process of evaluating the asylum petition, became a punishment harsh enough to become a deterrent to discourage the arrival of other immigrants. This way, incarceration has less to do with the migrant’s individual situation than with a political atmosphere that demands toughness.

The migratory authorities argue that conditions in those centers are not bad, but this is definitely not an environment to raise kids. There is an increasing number of cases of minors exhibiting signs of being traumatized by the confinement. There is no substitute for freedom.

A few days ago, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) announced that it will evaluate the family detention centers. The plan is a response to criticism raised by those detentions. It consists of five steps involving a series of consultations, speeding up the review of cases, and stop invoking general deterrence as a factor in custody determinations.

The changes are good. Too bad that they do not entail the quick release of mothers and children who, according to legal observers, have strong arguments to be considered refugees. Those families arrived to the border seeking protection. There is no reason to prolong their suffering.