Berks Family Detention Center releases families and kids, remains open publicopiniononline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publicopiniononline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pennsylvania detention center releases migrant families
March 1, 2021
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LEESPORT, Pa. (AP) A Pennsylvania facility used by the U.S. government to detain asylum-seeking immigrants has released several families and is no longer holding children and parents, according to activists and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
The Berks County Residential Center outside Reading was one of three family detention centers in the U.S. that held children and parents who are seeking asylum or who entered the country illegally. Activists have long called for the detention center’s closure.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Monday that no one is in custody at the facility.
Berks residential center s fate not known, and county officials are not talking berksmontnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from berksmontnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Anthony Orozco / WITF
Seven families 25 people in all who had been held by immigration authorities at the Berks County Residential Center have been released to live with sponsors across the nation.
Their removal from detention does not mean they are granted asylum. They will continue their immigration cases while living with relatives and others willing to house them rather than in federal custody.
“So this is a great move; it’s not the end of the road,” said Amy Maldonado, a lawyer working pro bono with the Reading-based nonprofit ALDEA the People’s Justice Center. “We don’t know what’s happening yet but we’re very happy to see the Biden administration stop jailing children unnecessarily.”
A Pennsylvania facility used by the U.S. government to detain asylum-seeking immigrants has released several families and is no longer holding children and.