They then drove him two hours from Homestead, the immigrant children’s shelter where he had been staying since May, to The Broward Transitional Center, an adult detention facility in Pompano Beach, Florida. Lisa Lehner, an attorney at Americans For Immigrant Justice (AIJ) who worked on Roberto’s case, says she sees teenagers aging out of shelters and being transferred to adult detention in record numbers, due to the government’s recent crackdown on sponsors. “It’s just continuing trauma with no real respite.”The Nightmare Of Adult DetentionLast August, Paula cried in the back of the truck while ICE officers drove her to an adult detention facility in Texas on her 18th birthday. Experts say that in addition to a lack of peer and professional support, it’s also harder for 18-year-olds to win their asylum cases from adult detention. “(ICE) custody is a much more punitive situation,” said Jennifer Podkul, the director of policy for Kids In Need Of Defense (KIND).

Source: Huffington Post November 01, 2018 09:00 UTC