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Texas: For-Profit Detention Centers Continue Holding Families, Despite Judge’s Ruling

HeadlineDec 08, 2016

In Texas, two private detention centers continue to hold migrant women and children seeking asylum, even after a judge barred the state from licensing them as child care facilities. The state has appealed the ruling. For-profit private prison companies GEO Group and CoreCivic, formerly known as CCA, insist they are in compliance with federal standards. Immigration authorities say “operational activities continue without interruption.” But advocates reported that after the ruling on Friday, nearly 500 women and children were released with almost no advance notice to local shelters that usually handle dozens of people. They told Democracy Now! they expect another mass release in the coming days. Even with the releases, there are currently an estimated 600 women and children in the Karnes detention center and another 1,800 held at a detention camp in Dilley, both about an hour south of San Antonio.

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