Close Berks prison for immigrant families

Earlier this year, Governor Tom Wolf welcomed a Syrian family applying for refugee status to join their family members in Allentown, in spite of President Trump’s travel ban.

“You’ve been through a lot,” he told six smiling members of the Assali family, and congratulated them for their “perseverance.” “It’s nice to have you here,” he added. “Thank you for wanting to come to Pennsylvania” (Philly.com, 2/17/17). Given Governor Wolf’s behavior on other immigration issues, it’s hard to see this as more than a photo op.

Later this month, the governor will host a dinner at the Governor’s mansion to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, followed by another dinner for refugees only. But when it comes time to act on the most salient example of Pennsylvania’s abuse of immigrants, Wolf repeatedly fails to take action.

In Leesport, Pennsylvania, in the state’s 6th congressional district, there is a detention center that holds immigrant families, many of whom have come to this country to apply for asylum or for refugee status. Mothers, fathers, and children are imprisoned in the Berks County Residential Center (BCRC), socalled because of its previous use as an assisted living facility. Some immigrant families have been detained for up to 18 months while they await their immigration hearings.

Based on earlier decisions in federal court, incarcerating families is illegal. It is also immoral. BCRC should be closed, and the individuals detained there should be released to their families, to church groups, or community members while their immigration status is being determined.

Governor Wolf has the power to close the Berks facility, but steadfastly refuses to do so. We can only speculate why that is. In response to constituent phone calls, Wolf’s staff have repeatedly claimed that the center is a federal facility, and that Pennsylvania doesn’t have the authority to close it.

Recently they have insisted that only two families remain at the center, a claim which is a careless lie. According to immigration attorneys and to community members who have been granted periodic visitation privileges, there are at least 30 families detained at the center.

BCRC is not a Federal facility. It is owned and run by Berks County. The state has the authority to close a county facility. This could be accomplished by issuing an Emergency Removal Order (ERO), which is a legal instrument the state can use, and has used in the past, to protect the health and welfare of children and seniors in state residential facilities when such facilities have been found to endanger the health and wellbeing of the residents.

Detainees at BCRC have suffered repeated neglect and abuse since the facility was converted to a family detention center in 2014. This has included medical neglect — one child vomited blood for four days without medical care. In another case, a mother reported that her child had constant diarrhea. Initially, authorities dismissed her worries. The child was later found to be suffering from shigellosis.

Worst of all, a guard at the center plead guilty to institutional sexual assault of a detainee, after he raped a woman in front of other families. Claims of center officials being dismissive of detainees’ physical and mental health concerns are well documented. The case for issuing an ERO couldn’t be plainer.

Why won’t Governor Wolf act to close a prison that holds families with children? It’s difficult to know. For over a year, he has refused to meet with members of the Shut Down Berks Coalition.

They have presented his office with legal research prepared by Temple University Law School’s Sheller Center for Social Justice that clearly lays out the state’s authority to issue an Emergency Removal Order. The governor has not responded. Instead, he continually claims that he cares about immigrant families, but that he doesn’t have the authority to close BCRC because it’s a federal facility. This is plainly not true. It’s time for him to meet with the Shut Down Berks Coalition and explain his inaction.

The Berks County Residential Center is owned by Berks County, which contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to run the center.

The federal government reimburses the county for operational costs and pays the county about $1.1 million for an annual lease. ICE dictates the policies of the center’s operations. It’s hard to see how over a million dollars doesn’t influence the County’s cooperation with ICE, and Tom Wolf’s refusal to take steps to close the facility. Doug Gunn Phoenixville