Immigration authorities are detaining hundreds of children for longer than the 20 days allowed by a federal judge, a Scripps News investigation has learned.
Scripps News obtained a document filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement under a federal court order that shows more than 600 juveniles held in ICE custody at some point in July.
The children are being arrested and detained with their families while going through lengthy deportation proceedings. Many of the juveniles end up at the South Texas Family Residential Center, a sprawling site located in Dilley, Texas, that reopened in March.
The detention center is owned and operated by CoreCivic, a for-profit company contracting with ICE to hold immigrants.
20 days is the limit? How many school districts in the US allow for 16 unexcused absences in a row? Kids should be let out before they miss any school. If that means the parents get out too, so be it.