WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after news that all remaining children are being moved out of the migrant child prison at Homestead, Florida. Merkley led the charge in Congress to shut down the child prison, introducing the Shut Down Child Prison Camps Act.
“Bowing to public pressure, the Trump administration has announced that they have moved all unaccompanied children from Homestead, the notorious, for-profit child prison in Florida. This prison was the scene of horrific conditions as documented by Amnesty International and others. A huge thanks to everyone who has weighed in on the cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of this facility and of Trump’s traumatizing of children.
“We must continue to shine a light on this administration’s terrible treatment of migrant children as they await their asylum hearings. Children belong in homes, schools, and playgrounds — not prisons. I know that America can treat every person with dignity and respect, and I will keep fighting until we do.”
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