Petition � Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen: Stop US Border Control from Detaining People in Iceboxes (Hieleras) � Change.org

3.1.19

Petition � Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen: Stop US Border Control from Detaining People in Iceboxes (Hieleras) � Change.org:

For several years now, US Customs and Border Control has put detained human beings in "hieleras" or ice boxes - extremely cold rooms where people cannot get warm. This includes children and babies. This includes Jakelin Caal Maquín, the 7 year old girl who recently died in the custody of US Customs and Border Control. 

CPB has faced lawsuits over hieleras in the past: Here is what's shared in a recent post by The Cut: 

"In 2013, three undocumented immigrants sued the U.S. government over abuses they said they’d suffered in CBP custody, specifically citing the bitterly cold temperatures. '[One woman’s] lips eventually chapped and split,' read one of their suits. 'The lips and fingers of her two sisters and her sister’s child also turned blue.' Since then, it seems, little has changed: On December 19, BuzzFeed News reported that a five-month-old girl has been hospitalized with pneumonia after being held in a hielera for five days with her mother. Within two days of being released from detention, she had a 102.7-degree fever and was throwing up.'"

Why is this happening? Many people think it's "punitive". I agree and say it's torture and these human rights violations need to end. We need to keep speaking out - our voices can be the force that gets the Trump Administration to move. And if they don't move, we'll ensure that any subsequent administration knows that respect and human decency will be the rule not the exception when engaging with immigrants!

Please sign and share widely. As for next steps, please carve out a moment to call your US Senators and Congressperson and tell them that you need them to demand an end to torturing immigrants.

Lastly, let me leave you with a powerful story that came out in 2017: "The Strange Death of Jose de Jesus". Broadcast on Latino USA, will give broader context for all that's going wrong with this relatively new development of mass incarcerating immigrants. Thank you!

Stacy Parker Le Melle