Category: Detention

The Southern Regional Council Journal, Southern Changes, has an article, “Cells for Sale,” by Harmon L. Wray, Jr. (Vol. 8, No. 3, 1986, pp. 3-6). Two paragraphs focus on the namesake of the Hutto jail:

“Another West Point alum and major CCA investor is T. Don Hutto, the corporation’s executive vice-president. Hutto, an ex-prison guard who became commissioner of corrections in Virginia and Arkansas, has since 1984 been president of the American Correctional Association, which oversees prison accreditation standards. Unlike other corrections-related professional associations-the National Sheriffs Association, the National Conference of State Trial Judges, the National Association of Criminal Justice Planners, and the American Bar Association–the ACA under Hutto’s tenure has supported prison privatization. “Apprehensions on the part of prisoner advocates and those who abhor slavery may not be unfounded when one considers the professional history of T. Don Hutto, the man CCA touts as its foremost corrections expert. The CCA’s executive vice-president’s career includes a stint as warden of the Ramsey Unit in Huntsville, Texas, in the 1960s, when the system of using inmates to guard and discipline other inmates, later outlawed in federal court, was “at its strongest,” according to the Texas Observer. A 1985 article in The Nation reported that during Hutto’s tenure as corrections commissioner in Arkansas the US Supreme Court ruled that state’s prison system unconstitutional and found that officials “evidently tried to operate their prisons at a profit.” “Inmates were required to work on prison farms ten hours a day, six days a week, often without suitable clothing or shoes, using mule-drawn plows and tending crops by hand….Punishment for minor misconduct included lashing with a wooden-handled leather strap…and administering electric shocks to ‘various sensitive parts of the inmate’s body.’ The trial court called the prisons ‘a dark and evil world completely alien to the free world.’” When confronted with this criticism, a CCA offical responded that The Nation essay was “a libelous article” and that Hutto had in fact cleaned up the unconstitutional Arkansas system.”

Link to archive

In response to an editorial in the Austin American-Statesman (pasted below under “Read More”), Dallas attorney John Wheat Gibson fired off the following email.

It is his second email to the Statesman in two days. The first one tried to correct the erroneous claim that frames the editorial in the second sentence: the claim that immigrants jailed at Hutto belong to families who entered the USA illegally. Gibson’s clients, two Palestinian families, entered with visas and applied for asylum.

In the email below, Gibson works on another phrase, and we quote:

“Age of terrorism,” my ass. The incarceration of the Palestinian families at Hutto has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism, except that they came to the United States fleeing terrorism by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Palestine. It has absolutely nothing to do with “keeping tabs on illegal immigrants.” The Department of Homeland Stupidity at all times knew the correct address–had “tabs on”–the victims, because the scrupulously reported promptly every change in their addresses to the Department.
Nobody wants to admit that their leaders might do evil. Germans hearing of atrocities in the 1930s would say, “Der Furher does not know about it. He would put a stop to it if he did.”

But the fact is that, as the Germans learned and I hope we Americans are not too stupid to be learning, that governments do lie and terrorize their own populations for political purposes and to silence dissent.

There is no legitimate purpose whatsoever in keeping the Palestinian children or their parents in prison in Hutto or anywhere else. The roundup on November 3 when they were arrested at their homes was nothing more or less than a Kristalnact terror aimed at the American people, as the press release the DHS issued makes clear in calling these children “criminals and absconders”.

It is time the Statesman faced reality and stopped cooperating with the DHS’s anti-Muslim hate propaganda, of which the incarceration of children is only one recent, but particularly cynical example.

John Wheat Gibson, P.C.

Dallas, Texas

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/12/19/19taylor_edit.html

EDITORIAL
Putting children behind bars in Taylor

EDITORIAL BOARD
Tuesday, December 19, 2006

There has to be a better way. It cannot be right to imprison children guilty of nothing more than following their parents into the United States illegally.

The American-Statesman’s Juan Castillo recently reported on a private prison in Williamson County where families of illegal immigrants are held to await disposition of their cases. It is one of two Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the United States holding non-Mexican unauthorized immigrants on noncriminal charges.

The facilities also are living testimony to a broken system for adjudicating immigration cases. There are 215 federal immigration judges serving in 53 immigration courts across the country. Last year, they handled more than 350,000 specific matters, including 270,000 individual cases.

The backlog is so strained that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, noted: “The department and the federal courts are straining under the weight of an immigration litigation system that is broken. Under the current system, criminal aliens generally receive more opportunities for judicial review of their removal orders than noncriminal aliens.”

In short, illegal immigrants who commit crimes get speedier legal attention than these children, who have done nothing wrong other than follow their parents.

Nothing will change until reforms are initiated, and Congress has done little to fix a broken immigration policy and the machinery to enforce it. The result is the private prison facility in Taylor and a smaller one in Pennsylvania .

According to those familiar with the families in the private prison, children of those apprehended are dressed in prison jumpsuits and receive only one hour of schooling and one hour of recreation a day. The trade-off is that they get to remain with their families.

Hard information on the program and the private prison is difficult to come by. The company running the prison refers questions to the immigration office, and the immigration office has had little to say about the situation.

News of the 400 people — 200 of them children — being held in the T. Don Hutto unit in Taylor has sparked protests from several groups interested in immigrant issues. They are concerned about everything from care and feeding of those being held to the psychological effect of incarceration on children and families.

Federal authorities began detaining all unauthorized immigrants last summer. The reason for the detention was that so many who were charged with unauthorized entry into the United States never appeared for their court dates. They melted back into the population.

It is understandable in this age of terrorism that authorities want to keep tabs on illegal immigrants and ensure their appearances in courts. But there should be a way to see that they have their day in court without imprisoning their children.

Keeping families intact would appear to be a humane policy, as well. But the result of the new detention policy has been to jail children, and that is not acceptable. Those who have visited the detainees, some of whom are seeking political asylum, say the detention is damaging.

Little kids in prison jumpsuits and nametags presents a sad picture. Children are truly at the mercy of their parents, and incarceration cannot be good for their physical, mental or emotional health.

For reasons of security and the law, a close watch on the nation’s borders is warranted. But what isn’t acceptable is jailing mothers and children awaiting a hearing on their status.

There has to be a better way.

By Nick Braune
Mid-Valley Town Crier
by permission

People battle against evil in different ways. Sometimes those various efforts work together to bring change, sometimes they fail. But having different but concurrent efforts is crucial in the long haul, and I will describe three such recent efforts.

A Lawsuit

The first battle, a legal challenge: The ACLU last week forced some important changes to be made in the infamous T. Don Hutto detention center near Austin; the facility “houses” immigrants (many of them children) in cells.

Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, calls Hutto a “residential center” not a detention center, it was originally built as a prison. And when I covered a protest there two months ago, it still looked like a prison to me. ICE, under public pressure, had recently removed the most intimidating barbed wire, but there clearly were guards and fences.

The New York Times reported how Hutto “drew protests when it was reported that immigrant children were inadequately fed, deprived of toys and confined to cells with open toilets.” But the victorious ACLU legal challenge now requires Hutto to improve the children’s education, recreation and nutrition. Hutto must also hire a pediatrician, install privacy curtains around toilets, and allow inspections by a magistrate.

The Times noted that things started changing when protests hit and the suit was announced in March: The government (ICE, etc.) soon backed off its disgusting policy of forcing children to wear “institutional uniforms” (prison outfits), and has allowed more toys and recreational time.

My note: These immigrants have not been convicted of crimes; they are simply in violation of immigration rules or are awaiting refugee status. By international law they should not be detained as prisoners.

Although its suit won a victory, the ACLU insists it still finds Hutto “an inappropriate place” to house children. And most activists I know want it shut down completely, along with the huge detention camp for adults in Raymondville.

A Forum

A second battle: some successful Valley coalition organizing. On August 23rd, seventy people gathered for a dramatic Weslaco public forum. At issue was Raymondville’s detention center (camp) where two thousand people are held in punitive conditions in huge tents.

Held at South Texas College and sponsored by the Coalition Against Immigrant Repression and other groups, the event hosted some fired-up speakers: local TV reporter Victor Castillo and immigration lawyer Jodi Goodwin from Harlingen lambasted the callous mistreatment of immigrants in Raymondville. Juan Guerra, the district attorney for Willacy County (Raymondville), exposed the financial shadiness behind the detention center and the cover-up.

Psychotherapist Kenneth Koym discussed how “labeling” can cause depression in children in places like Hutto. Rogelio Nunez, Proyecto Libertad director, spoke of a long history in the Valley of government repression and urged the youth to study that history.

Ben Browning, a young man who chained himself in civil disobedience against a detention center fence in Houston two months ago, discussed how our government displays a deep fear of people. It was an outstanding event.

A Poem

A third battle against evil is one by a local poet, Shirley Rickett. She doesn’t describe her poetry as a battle, but I count it as such. (Although I’ve seen her at peace rallies, at the feisty forum last week against the detention centers, and at last week’s No Border Wall event in Mission which rallied 300 people, she describes her poetry as quiet meditation, with an audience listening.)

Rickett has researched the Holocaust and once received a grant to interview children of the Nazis in Europe. Like Kenneth Koym, mentioned above, she is concerned about children and confusion and labels. Her poetry and presentations find telling images: her own childhood confusion thinking “Pearl Harbor” was a girl’s name, young Oedipus feeling cursed, German children sewing yellow stars on their prettiest dresses.

Here is a poem (in villanelle form), perhaps meditating on Hutto, Raymondville and Nazi camps, from Rickett’s recent collection:

The Camps

A prison that’s a melting pot:
Whole families live among these camps,
the people everyone forgot,

or people no one knows about,
employment for the poorest towns,
a prison that’s a melting pot.

Some say it’s true, no matter what,
two-year-olds in uniform,
the people everyone forgot.

Child, lay your head upon this cot,
never mind your will to play
in prisons that are melting pots.

” ‘Catch and release’ didn’t work,”
the mindless drone of bureaucrats
on people everyone forgot.

Tent or wall, barbed wire aloft:
“Line up” several times a day,
in prison that’s a melting pot,
the people everyone forgot.

email from Jay Johnson Castro, Sr.

Here’s a call for grassroots and the media support…

Sherry Dana, who has done a lot of research on the contracts between ICE, CCA and the Williamson County Commissioners has shared the following information about this coming County Commissioners meeting where the fate of the innocent children imprisoned there is subject to their discretion. (See the thread and agenda below)

The Commissioners Court needs advocates of freeing the children. The Commissioners are very secret about their actions…so some of the local folks fighting for the freedom of the children will be present to make sure that the children have a voice. They would like your help and support.

Media presence will be invaluable. These decision makers need to know that their moves are being monitored. And…the public needs to know what is being done…and what is being done in secret. We trust that the media will help keep the information going to the public.

Please share this with you respective networks…

In solidarity…

Jay

— Original Message —-
Subject: Tuesday, August 14 Williamson County Commissioners Meeting
From: Sherry J. Dana
To: Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.

Jay,

Contracts with ICE and CCA concerning T. Don Hutto are on the August 14th Williamson County commissioners’ court agenda (see below). Could you get out the word that we need people to attend the meeting and speak against the contracts? I don’t know if the commissioners plan to take action this time but I would hate for the press to say no one objected (to whatever the hell they’re planning on doing.)

We have been insisting on speaking on Item 2 (shortly after the meeting starts at 9:30) since on several occasions they have not taken up the agenda item later in the meeting, leaving us with no opportunity to speak. They have also limited us to 5 speakers but last week they allowed everyone there to speak against the landfill so I think we can demand the same treatment. The landfill protesters also got some press because of the size of the crowd.

I know Tuesday mornings are difficult but we would like to see as many people there as possible.

Thanks,
Sherry

* * *

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
WILLIAMSON COUNTY COMMISSIONER’S COURT
AUGUST 14TH, 2007

The Commissioner’s Court of Williamson County, Texas will meet in special session on Tuesday, Aug. 14th, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. in the Justice of the Peace, Pct. #3 Courtroom, 301 S.E. Inner Loop, in Georgetown, Texas to consider the following items:

2. Citizen comments. Except when public hearings are scheduled for later in the meeting, this will be the only opportunity for citizen input. The Court invites comments on any matter affecting the county, whether on the Agenda or not. Speakers should limit their comments to two minutes. Note that the members of the Court may not comment at the meeting about matters that are not on the agenda.

46. Discuss contractual relationships expressed in both the Inter-Governmental Service Agreement between the United States Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Williamson County, Texas and in the operation Agreement between Williamson County, Texas and Corrections Corporation of America concerning the T. Don Hutto Residential Facility (EXECUTIVE SESSION as per VTCA Govt. Code sec. 551.071 consultation with attorney.)

50. Discuss and take appropriate action on contractual relationships expressed in both the Inter-Governmental Service Agreement between the United States Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Williamson County, Texas and in the operation Agreement between Williamson County, Texas and Corrections Corporation of America concerning the T. Don Hutto Residential Facility.

Note: Read Peter Dana’s report from the August 7 meeting of the William County Commissioners Court–gm

Email from Bob Libal–gm

The Texas Indigenous Council in conjunction with San Antonio musicians and other community groups will be holding a vigil this Saturday, August 16th, in Taylor, Texas. Demonstrators will gather at 12:00 noon at Heritage Park where they will rally until 1 pm, followed by walk for the children to T. Don Hutto detention center for the protest, vigil, and music from San Antonio artists. Please contact Antonio Diaz at (210) 396-9805 for more information and caravan times from San Antonio.

Oppose Family Detention Center Expansion

As many of you may know, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has proposed three new family detention centers to be located in different parts of the country. The facilities will expand the system of family detention that has been made notorious at T. Don Hutto.

As an op-ed against the new detention centers by University of Texas professor Barbara Hines in the Dallas Morning News said, “The proposal for new centers is a step in the wrong direction. Congress has repeatedly called on ICE, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for immigration matters, to implement alternatives to detention programs for families, stating that detention of families should be the last alternative and not the first.”

Please take time to contact your representatives, and tell them that ICE should be investing in alternatives, not creating more Hutto-like family detention centers.

As always, see tdonhutto.blogspot.com for up-to-date information on Hutto and family detention.