Shame

There are about 200 children locked up in Taylor at the Hutto Unit, a prison run by Homeland Security, according to the LA Times.

TAYLOR, TEXAS — Khadijah Bessuges is confined by metal gates and razor wire. She wears a uniform. She sleeps in an 8-by-15 cell, and stands by her cot four times a day when the guards count heads. She has only two pairs of panties. Her favorite teddy bear was confiscated. But she has her father, Sebastien, who sleeps in the cell with her.

Khadijah is 9 years old.

She is one of 208 children being held with their parents at the T. Don Hutto family detention center, the Department of Homeland Security's answer to the problem of families caught living in or entering the country illegally.

"It's not a good place for people," Khadijah said in a recent telephone interview. "People here get sad, and they don't want to be here. They want to be with their families."

Hutto, which opened in May 2006, is a pillar of the Bush administration's effort to crack down on illegal immigrants and detain them until their appeals can be heard. It holds detainees who cannot easily be sent home, as Mexicans can. Hutto has families from 29 countries, most from South America.

The center is touted by the Homeland Security Department as a major achievement, and may be a model for future facilities. Hutto also illustrates the administration's bind as its pursuit of border security collides with the reality that many illegal immigrants are minors.

This debate underway about special visas, etc., let's not forget that children are involved with families who are here without green cards. We, as a society, pay the price in the long-term for official U.S. policy that results in aparthide, such as this instance.