Philadelphia groups, including Juntos and GALAEI: A Queer Latin@ Social Justice Organization, commended the state for issuing a letter indicating the license for the Berks County Residential Facility would not be renewed in February if it continues with current practices.
Ted Dallas, secretary of the state Department of Human Services, sent the letter to Berks County officials Oct. 22. The county owns the facility and leases it to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, to hold undocumented men, women and children.
It’s one of three such facilities in the country; the other two are in Texas.
Erika Almiron, executive director of Juntos, said the letter affirms the demands the groups have made to shut down the Berks County facility.
“DHS never should’ve licensed the facility to begin with,” Almiron said in a statement. “Berks is not the model institution ICE has claimed it to be. How can it be with all the human-rights abuses occurring inside?”
“Ted Dallas does not need to wait until February to release our families or to shut down Berks,” Almiron continued. “We say not one more day in detention for our families.”
She said her group will remind Dallas of the urgency to close the Berks County facility when members march in Harrisburg in November.
The facility’s license does not support detaining families, according to the letter from the state. It’s set up to operate as a child-residential facility, the letter said. The facility has been under scrutiny the past year as immigration lawyers questioned its operation and treatment of detainees.
In June, Philadelphia groups joined others in protesting reports of child labor; children suffering diarrhea, vomiting and fevers without proper medical attention; alleged sexual abuse of a 19-year-old mother by a guard and more.
Representatives from FAMILIA: Trans* Queer Liberation Movement told PGN at the time, “ICE has proven time and time again that it can’t keep transgender detainees safe in its custody.”
The state Department of Human Services issued a statement indicating the Berks County facility could opt to transition its operations to fit its existing license.