Immigration Detention Centers Still Holding Minors & Women For Long Periods of Time

Depite there being a ban on long-term detention, many detention centers all around the United States are still reportedly detaining Central American women, as well as minors, for extended periods of time. Many of these Central American immigrants were reported to have crossed the U.S. border illegally.

According to a report with Washington Times, many advocacy groups have questioned the legality of detention centers because they violate the dignity of human rights. Many of these detainees, particularly the women, complained that they had experienced some form of abuse during their stay in the detention center.

The report said that many of the female detainees were subjected to a lot of "humiliating" strip searches, in which they were forced to "stand and walk barefoot" on unclean floors. Many of these illegal immigrants said that the experience was "deplorable."

Advocates of immigration raised their complaints that the Obama administration is not doing enough to make sure that the rights of these detainees were being protected. Think Progress reports that one detention center in particular did not provide any special provisions for those who were on their period during the strip search. Even detainees who suffered sexual assault and trauma in the past were still subject to strip searches.

Minors who have crossed the border illegally are also being held in the detention centers for extended periods of time. Many of these people are unaccompanied minors, coming from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. These children have their own stories to tell of making a perilous journey in order to escape poverty and the rampant gang violence, particularly in El Salvador.

Fox News Latino reports that 10,500 of these unaccompanied minors crossed the Southern U.S. border in October to November last year. Out of these numbers,  68,500 were arrested at the U.S. border.

Manoj Govindiah,  an attorney who works for RAICES, which advocates the rights of refugees and immigrants everywhere said that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) have the power to release the detainees at any given time, but have not done so.

Many of the mothers being held at the detention centers demand justice and action from the Obama administration, saying that being held in the detention centers is very much like jail, with mothers having a hard time explaining to their children why they are in the detention center.

"We are humans and we have the right to be happy and safe," said Dominga, one of the detainees being held at the detention center.