|
Denouncing Cruelty at the Border a Statement from Miles Tokunow, Executive Director, Contigo Immigrant Justice
"Fort Bliss has a long, shameful history of incarcerating marginalized communities. It was first used as an internment site for Japanese Americans during World War II. In more recent decades, it has served as a detention center under the Obama, Biden, and Trump administrations, imprisoning immigrant children in horrifying conditions. This facility is not an anomaly. It is part of a nearly century-long legacy of government-sanctioned abuse.
A recent Washington Post investigation uncovered at least 60 federal violations in just 50 days at the Fort Bliss Immigration Detention Center. These include denial of legal access, substandard medical care, and inhumane living conditions. These are not new horrors; they are part of a continuous, deplorable tradition.
My own family knows the lasting trauma that detention inflicts. My father was born behind barbed wire in a U.S. internment camp in 1943. That legacy lives in me, and in every person forced into cages under the guise of civil immigration enforcement.
At Contigo Immigrant Justice, we believe in the fundamental dignity of all human beings. Immigrant detention is a gross and unacceptable violation of universal human rights. We demand the immediate closure of the Fort Bliss Immigration Detention Center and an end to the cruel practice of immigrant detention in the United States."
| 
