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All Families Released from Berks County ICE Jail

HeadlineMar 01, 2021

In immigration news, all asylum-seeking families who had been detained at the Berks County ICE jail in Pennsylvania have been released. The facility had been accused of abusing prisoners. In 2016, an ICE employee was convicted of sexually assaulting an asylum seeker while she was detained at Berks. Immigrant justice advocates have been fighting to abolish family ICE jails for years — a practice that was expanded under the Obama administration. This comes as two other controversial ICE jails for asylum-seeking families — Dilley and Karnes in Texas — will reportedly now be used as “reception centers,” while families receive a COVID-19 health screening and shelter arrangements are made.

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