By Greg Moses
An 18-year-old immigration prisoner at the Rolling Plains jail at Haskell, Texas has made a formal request to be housed with his 23-year-old brother.
Ahmad Hazahza made the request shortly before 8:30 Saturday evening according to a Sergeant who was reached by telephone at the facility.
Ahmad and his brother Hisham have been jailed at the Haskell facility, along with their father and two sisters, since they were abducted in a raid last November by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
For the first eleven weeks of detention, Ahmad was held in “alternative housing” because of his status as a minor among adult prisoners. A friend of the Hazahza family called it “solitary confinement.” No explanation has been given as to why Ahmad was not initially sent to a jail such as T. Don Hutto, where other minors are being kept.
Sgt. Baldwin said housing units usually contain either 8 or 24 people. Each of the three male members of the Hazahza family is being detained in different housing units, he said.
The Haskell jail is a medium security prison managed by the Emerald Companies of Louisiana.
The Texas Civil Rights Review contacted the Haskell facility because of a news tip that Muslim prisoners in one housing unit had been threatened with restriction of their prayer privileges. But Sgt. Baldwin said the men were at the Mosque praying, and his report was later confirmed by our source.
Release of the Hazahza family members from Haskell has become a top priority for activists since Hazahza family mother and youngest son, Juma and Mohammad, were released last week from the T. Don Hutto prison in Taylor, Texas.
Along with the father, Radi, and two adult sons, Ahmad and Hisham, there are two adult Hazahza family daughters at Haskell, 19-year-old Suzan and 23-year-old Mirvat.
New York attorneys Joshua Bardavid and Ted Cox are reported to be preparing a federal habeas corpus plea for the remaining Hazahza family, much the same as they did for the recently released Ibrahims.
Texas Civil Rights Review 