#shutdownberks

[pennproud]

#Repost @zaxray with @get_repost ・・・ “Familias Separadas” is a public art project that amplifies the stories of immigrant families affected by detention and deportations in Pennsylvania. The public art installations are centered on the message from mothers and children detained for close to 2 years at the Berks County Residential Center, a family prison in Pennsylvania. These artworks, created by artist Michelle Angela Ortiz, are installed in different locations in Harrisburg to further support the fight to end family detention in Pennsylvania and the United States. • • • • • #endfamilydetention #shutdownberks #harrisburg #harrisburgpa #pennsylvania #pastatecapitol #statecapitol #art #photography #canon #canon_photos #pennlive https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp4fysrnL9I/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ksqgw67crbad

[amnestyusa]

Parents who end up in facilities like the Berks County Residential Center were facing an impossible choice. Do they stay in their home country and risk violence? Or do they flee to the U.S. and risk raising a family in jail? 

There are as many as 60 children and parents there who made the decision to flee. Now, they are trapped in Berks. It’s time to #ShutDownBerks. http://bit.ly/IvankaSDB

[amnestyusa]

The families held at Berks fled horrific violence in their countries, only to be put behind bars in the U.S. Some have been held there for over 600 days. No child should learn to walk behind bars. 

Tell Ivanka Trump it’s time to #ShutDownBerks. http://bit.ly/IvankaSDB 

[opera-pink1977]

[newsaldeapjc]

“A black hole where the law doesn’t apply” – inside Berks, America’s oldest child migrant detention centre

The Berks Family Residential Facility, an austere red-brick building located around 75 miles northwest of the city of Philadelphia, opened in 2001 and can house around 96 children and adults. “Residential Facility” is a euphemism. Berks is America’s oldest family detention centre. It holds immigrant families, many of them fleeing violence in Central America, while their asylum claims are assessed. Although children cannot legally be detained in America for longer than 20 days, some families have been held at Berks for almost two years. One of the longest-held detainees was one year old when he arrived at Berks; he learned to walk and talk behind bars. In response to mounting outrage over the families separated at the border under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the president last week announced an executive order to end the practice. Instead, President Donald Trump said he would detain families who entered the US at unofficial borders together, perhaps indefinitely. Karen Hoffmann, a lawyer with the non-profit Aldea, who has represented a number of families in Berks, describes the Berks detention centre as “ground zero for what the Trump administration is proposing to enact across the country”. She also describes it as “a black hole where the law doesn’t seem to apply”. The centre, which is run by the county with funding from federal government, has been operating without a license since 2016. It remains open despite lawyers and rights groups documenting widespread abuse and medical neglect.

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/north-america/2018/06/inside-berks-americas-oldest-child-migrant-detention-centre

[illegalpeople]

Stop putting families in jail.  Shut down Berks.

[ammph]

#TellPeopleWhatYouThink #ShutDownBerks #FreeuSALl #EverythINGIsInPLAY @MakeTheRoadPA #FF #FORREALFORREAL @LIGHTWORLDS #TRANSPARENCY #ONTHEAPPROACH @PhiLlyCAM #COMMUNITY #MEDIA #EVERYONEISWELCOME #RIGHTHEREINEARTH (at PhillyCAM)

[berksadvent-blog]

A, age 13, and his mom fled gender-based violence and gang violence in El Salvador. A stopped going to school for fear of being recruited by gang members, who had been harassing him on his way to and from school. He and his mom have been detained for 15 months.

A has been diagnosed with PTSD and a “high level of distress from this condition,” including suicidal ideation. He also has persistent asthma that requires specialized medications to prevent chronic lung changes and acute exacerbations. He is receiving no such treatment.

A writes: “Dear Santa, what I want for this Christmas is, first of all, I want to be outside with my family in Virginia after a year and two months in jail. And also an Xbox 1S and an iPhone 7. Fondly, A—.”

Today, on Christmas Eve and the first night of Hanukkah, we’d like to thank Senator Bob Casey for reaffirming his support yesterday to closing Berks and releasing these families. 

Please join us in thanking him on Facebook, Twitter, or through his website at https://www.casey.senate.gov/contact for his continued support for these kids and their moms.

At the same time, we’d like to encourage the other politicians with the power to close Berks — like PA Governor Tom Wolf, PA Secretary of Human Services Ted Dallas, and the Berks County Commissioners — to act swiftly to #ShutDownBerks and release these families. They have the legal authority to do so. The facility has been operating without a license for almost a year and it should be shut down NOW.

Suggested Facebook post: “Thank you U.S. Senator Bob Casey for your leadership and commitment to closing Berks and freeing these moms and kids. Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas, it is within your power to issue an ERO and #ShutDownBerks today. Free these families who’ve been detained for 450+ days! https://twitter.com/SenBobCasey/status/812371237422895104”

Suggested tweet: “.@GovernorTomWolf @KevinBarnhardt @CYLeinbach This is what leadership & compassion look like. Thank you @SenBobCasey https://twitter.com/SenBobCasey/status/812371237422895104”

Finally, if you’re feeling especially generous here’s the link to our wish list: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3080SKEAVNC2F/

Thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do to free these kids. This fight is far from over. Happy holidays!