Yaire Castillo

21 October 2020

ENG1121

Word Count: 562

Citation:

PBS NewsHour. “WATCH: ‘I believe these women,’ Ocasio-Cortez says of migrants in detention centers.” Online Video clip. YouTube. Youtube, 12 July 2019. Web 21 October 2020.

Summary:

U.S Representative Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez brings up the issue on how immigration detention centers are unethical and unprofessional. The purpose is to change policies, to respect women for who they are and not for the reason that they have been detained. When Cortez was able to speak to the women they were able to tell her how they are being treated wrong and can’t fully have access to their rights because ICE agents make sure that they don’t even have a chance to speak up for themselves. Cortez passionately explains how ICE needs to change the way they handle these situations. That it’s unfair that women are being mistreated so much throughout time.

Reflection:

I was extremely mad that women, let alone immigrants have to face many obstacles. Obstacles that others just decide to make it harder for them. It is not right that women are being terrorized and mistreated.Not only were they trying to achieve a better life but they were trying to do something better for their lives just for them to be humiliated at the end.

Quote: 

“So when these women tell me that they were put into a cell and that their sink was not working and we tested the sink ourselves, and the sink was not working and they were told to drink out of ha toilet bowl i believed the i believed these woman I believed the canker sores that I saw in their mouths because they were only allowed to be fed innutritious food. I believed  them when they said they were sleeping on concrete floors for two months.”

Citation:

O’Connor, Kathleen, et al. “No Safe Haven Here: Mental Health Assessment of Women and Children Held in U.S. Immigration Detention.” UUSC, 2015, www.uusc.org/sites/default/files/mental_health_assessment_of_women_and_children_u.s._immigration_detention.pdf. 

Summary:

Throughout this PDF file there have been many reasons on how immigration detention centers affect women negatively. Not only do they have an increased risk of developing mental illnesses but they are also being abused and neglected of basic medical care needs. Women suffer a lot because they’re not able to nurture or take care of their kids like they would want to. They are being denied the right to see their family or even the access to talking to them. There are many scientific studies that show that they are getting clinical depression,PTSD and anxiety.

Reflection:
It was very hard to read that women are being treated poorly. That they are just being taken away from their own families so that ICE agents are paid enough for the amount of immigrants that they bring into the detention centers. Their work is far away from being ethical.

Quote: 

“Mothers are threatened with the loss of their children if they hesitate to comply with ICE orders or if they report suffering from mental health issues;; children are used as a means of social control. The term “family” detention is a peculiar misnomer.”

“Refugees who have been through horrendous experiences are at significant risk for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. If not treated appropriately, these conditions may result in higher health- care cost burden down the line, in addition to substantial human suffering.”