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July 30, 2013

"Dream 9" Youths Remain in Detention After Deportation Protest, Some in Solitary Confinement 
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A group of young immigrants known as the "Dream 9" remain in an Arizona
detention center more than a week after attempting to re-enter the
United States to protest the Obama administration's record deportations.
While most of the DREAMers had previously been deported or compelled to
leave the United States because of current policy, three others chose to
join them in Mexico and accompany them home. All nine are being held at
Eloy Detention Center. Some say they have been placed in solitary
confinement after launching a hunger strike and attempting to collect
the stories of fellow migrants. DREAMer Lizbeth Mateo spoke in an
recording Monday saying it was her her fifth day in solitary.

Lizbeth Mateo: "This is Lizbeth Mateo, I'm at the Eloy Detention Center.
This is my fifth day in solitary confinement, and I want all nine of us
to go home as soon as possible. The conditions here are, are not the
best. There are women who have been waiting for months to see their
asylum officers, to get the interview — even three years, they're
all waiting."

On Monday, Democratic Rep. Mike Honda of California released a letter
signed by 33 members of Congress calling on President Obama to release
the Dream 9. "These youth are the victims of our broken immigration
policy, and they deserve to come home to the United States, where they
can continue to work towards fulfilling their dreams of higher
education," the letter said.

 

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