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 News from Around the Americas | May 2007 
Immigrant Detention Visit Canceled
 Associated Press
| | Families report prison-like conditions at Hutto, where food is passed through a slot, only children are allowed to drink milk (despite doctors' requests for pregnant women to be allowed milk rations) and, depending on how far back you are in the cafeteria line, meal times can be as short as 10 minutes. Click HERE for more info. |
Houston, TX – A U.N. migrant rights expert planned to meet Monday with former detainees of a highly criticized Texas immigrant detention center after his tour of the facility was canceled.
Jorge Bustamante, the Human Rights Council's independent expert on migrant rights, said he was notified Sunday that his planned visit to the T. Don Hutto facility in Taylor had been called off. He said he was not given a reason.
"I am frustrated by the cancellation," said Mr. Bustamante, who said he had been invited to tour the Central Texas facility by the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement canceled Mr. Bustamante's visit to Hutto because of pending litigation regarding the facility, according to a State Department spokesman. ICE officials have invited Mr. Bustamante to visit another family detention facility near York, Pa.
The Hutto detention center – a former prison – houses about 400 noncriminal immigrants awaiting deportation or other outcomes to their immigration cases.
"I am particularly concerned with the treatment of children and children's human rights," said Mr. Bustamante, who is from Mexico.
The Hutto center has come under fire from civil liberties and immigration advocates, who contend families detained there are subjected to psychologically abusive guards, inadequate medical care and inhumane conditions |
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