In April 2015, nearly 80 mothers held at Karnes County Residential Center in Texas began a hunger strike to protest the poor living conditions at the facility. The facility is a for-profit family detention center housing hundreds of undocumented women and children who fled to the United States from their home countries due to extreme violence.
The women and advocates for undocumented immigrants have alleged serious human rights violations at the Karnes center, including sexual abuse, inadequate access to medical care, mental-health treatment, legal counsel and other resources. Women claim that the food has made their children sick and that they don't have access to healthy snacks.
Now, several women claim that they were placed in isolation with their children as a means of punishment for their participation in the hunger strike. Some are even reporting guards threatening to take away their children if they continue to strike. The striking mothers say in a handwritten open letter: "We came to this country with our children looking for help and refuge and we're being treated like criminals."
This is no way to treat women and children, especially considering the traumatic experiences they've suffered to get here.
We can't let these mothers protest in vain! Please help urge the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to take the rights of the detained women and children seriously. Sign the petition calling on ICE to immediately close the Karnes center and to help prevent any further abuse.
