06/22/18 06/22/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: i signed a very good executive order yesterday, but that is only limited. no matter how you cut it, it leads to separation, ultimately. amy: as the u.u.s. milaryy prepares to house up to 20,000 immigrantt children on n militay bases, the justice department wants to live the 20 day limit on family detention. meanwhile, thousands of

immigrant parents still do not well -- do not know whether children are after they were taken from them at the border. we will go to brownsville, texas, dispute with reporter debbie nathan we just interviewed a guatemalan woman whose five-year-old son was taken from her last month by immigration authorities in texas after she sought asylum. this week she reunited with him after 38 days in detention. >> they tricked me. they told me we should go to the bus, that we were leaving. i was happy i was going to be with my son. when i set out on the bus, my boy and they said, ma'am, get off. code red. that is the name of an explosive new human rights watch report that exposes dangegerously subsbstandard medidical care ine detention centerers. >> f fst ones, t then a secondd seizure in immigration

detention. our medical experts of the firit seizure e had certainlnly -- and suddenly t the second seizure shouould have propopped at a hih lelevel of care e concern. that did n h happen. he ultimately has a third seizure that was fatal. amy: we will speak with clara long of human rights watch. it would look at the case of a man deported from the united states who took his own life at the cairo international airport after being deported. he had been detained for more than a year after fleeing his home country seeking asylum here. he feared that if you were to return. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. military is preparing to house up to 20,000 immigranat children on military bases in texas and arkansas. a pentagon spokesperson said the bases would house "unaccompanied alien children" but other reports indicate the bases might

be used to indefinitely hold entire families following president trump's executive ordering ending family separation. on thursday, the federal court was asked to alteter a settlelet ththat limits fafamily detentioo 20 days. this comes as the government i s facing growing criticicism for having no sysystem in place to reunite thousands of children with their parents after being separated at t the border. groups like the tetexas civivil rights projeject are scramblingo lolocate childreren who have ben sentnt to detention centers arod the country. the group is representing more than 300 parents but have been discussed only been abable to track down a about two children. the former h hd of the o officef refugee resettlement under president t obama has sharply criticized the trump administration. bob carey said -- "this is child abuse being perpetrated by a government."

on capitol hill, republicans have postponed a vote on a broad immigration bill as the party's leadership acknowledged it lacked enough votes. house minority nancy pelosi slammed the legislation which would result in the indefinite detention of asylum-seekers and $25 billion to build a wall along the mexican bordrder. >> the speakers bill carries at the presidents depeportation agenda. it paves the way for long-term incarceration of families in prison-like conditions in a denial of basic health and safety protections for children. familyublican plan is a incarceration plan. it replaces one form of child abuse with another. it violates children's human rights. why the republicans think traumatized, terrified little children at the border do not deserve the same basic respect that their own children do?

amy: early this morning, president trump tweeted -- on thursday, first lady melania trump made an unannounced trip to a detention center for immigrant children in texas. as she left washington she was wearing a jacket that read, "i really don't care, do u?" while much of the nation's attention has beenen on the u.u.s.-mexican bororder, immigrn authorities carried out its largesest workplacace raid in nt history ththis week. federal agents arrested 146 employees at fresh mark, a major meat supplplier in ohio. it was t second large ice raid in o ohio in recent weeks.s. meanwhilile, dozens of protetess -- including many parentnts with babies -- attempted to occupy the ice field office in new york on thursday.

>> we are outside the federal building near foley square, which is the site of the regional ice office in new york. there's another group of us who went in. they are singing songs inside. their presenting demands. >> the children have no clue what is going on. tell the parents they will see their kids. they love their kids. they want to know that will be ok.

office in new york. a guatemalan woman who has been living in the united states for 13 years has announced she has sought sanctuary with two of her children in a new york church in an attempt to avoid deportation. 32-year-old debora berenice vasquez spoke to the press on thursday. >> when i received notice to leave this country, i was heartbroken. i cannot think about what it would do to my family, to my kids. it will rip us apart. i understand now what the mothers are feeling, that are being separated from their children. rememberortant that we that this is not only happening on the borders, but it is also happening in new york. statetes across the country. amy: debora berenice vasquez speaking inside the st. paul and st. andrew united methodist church. new york gubernatorial candidate and actress cynthia nixon voiced her support for debora. >> thank you from the bottom of our hearts for offering sanctuary to debora and herer

children. thank you for giving us a place to gather today to ststand up wh one voice as nenew yorkers and y no, not in our name. not in our name. amy: during an interview at the describednthia nexen ice asas a terrorist organiziza. strayed so far from its mission. it is supposed to bebe here to kekeep americans safe. what it has s turned intnto is a terrorist organization of its own that is terrorizing people who are coming to this country. amy: the governor of new york has said that 700 children have been transported here, separated from their parents at the border. in pennsylvania, hundreds of protesters in east pittsburgh shut down a major highway overnight for five hours to protest the police killing of antwon rose, a 17-year-old african-american high school senior. video of the shooting shows rose

was shot in the back while trying to flee police after a traffic stop. police have admitted he was unarmed. rose was set to graduate from high school this year. the killing has sparked two days of protest in pittsburgh. >> we are tired of being treated as though we don't realize racism exists. more and more police are coming for defending bold and brave and killing black people.. we won't stand for it. amy: at an earlier demonstration, a protester read a poem antwon had written in 2016 about police brutality. buried theheirs sons.. i am confused. i'm afraid.

i pretend d all is f fine. i feel like i'm suffocating. i touch nothing so i believe all is fine. amy: the officer who shotantwon had just been sworn in a few hours before. in related news, a new study in the lancet medical journal has found that police killings of unarmed black americans directly harms the mental health of the wider black population. one of the report's authors said -- "it's really about all the kinds of insidious ways that structural racism can make people sick." accused nsa whistleblower reality winner has signed a plea deal and is scheduled to formally change her plea to guilty next week. winner has been jailed for the past year awaiting trial over charges that she leaked a top-secret document to the intercept about russian interference in the 2016 election. winner had faced up to 10 years in prison for violating the espionage act. details of the plea agreement

have not been made public. the white house has proposed merging the u.s. labor and education departments into a single agency as part of a sweeping reform of the federal government. randi weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers, condemned the proposal. she said -- "we are extremely skeptical of the motivations here given how hostile betsy devos and president trump have been to public education, workers, and unions. it seems like this move is just cover for continuing their agenda to go after public schools, gut civil rights and equity protections, provide support for predatory student loan companies, and prey on workers." the trump administration's proposal also calls for restructuring the u.s. postal service and for the potential privatization of both the federal aviation administration's air traffic control services and the saint lawrence seaway. in news from the united nations,

u.s. ambassador nikki haley has slammed a new u.n. report by u.n. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human right philip alston who recently toured the united states. haley said -- "it is patently ridiculous for the united nations to examine poverty in america." haley's comment comes just days after the u.s. pulled out of the u.n. human rights council. last week philip alston appeared on democracycy now! ! to discucs findings. >> vast numbers of people are left living without enough to get by on. 40 million living in poverty. the figure of 5.3 million, which has been estimated of people who live in "third world conditions" in this country. amy: more than 100 people were arrested at the u.s. capitol thursday in an action organized by the poor peoples campaign to protest the trump administration's mistreatment of immigrants.

among those arrested included the reverend william barber and david goodman, the brother of slain civil rights worker andrew goodman. thursday's action took place on the anniversary of the 1964 disappearance of james chaney, michael schwerner, and andrew goodman, whose bodies were found buried in a dam in philadelphia, mississippi, a august 4, 1 1964. the poor people's campaiaign is holding a major march on the u.s. capitol on saturday. reporters without borders has called on n the israeli parliamt to reject a new bill that would criminalize the taking of photographs and videos of israeli soldiers. violatioions could result in jal sentences ofof five years if the photograph or video harmed the morale of israel's soldiers or 10 years in jail if it harmed the security of the state. the bill was introduced in april aftevideo ememerged showing an iseli soldieier cheering after shooting an unarmed palestinian

in gaza.a. in other news from israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu's wife, sara netanyahu, has been indicted for fraud and misuse of state funds. she is accused of ordering $100,000 worth of catered meals at their official residence. if convicted, she could be sentenced for up to eight years in prison. and those arare some of the headlinenes. this is democracy now!,, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with an update on the more 2300 children separateted from their f familit the u.s.-mexico border a after their pantnts were c charged wih illegal entry under ththe trump administration's ongoing zero tolerarance policy. ththe u.s. military isis prepapg to house up to 20,000 immigrantt children on military bases in texas and ararkansas. a pentagon spokesperson said the bases would house "unaccompanied

alien chilildren." theother reports suggest bases s might be used to indefinitely hold entire fafamilies: president trump's executivee order ending the separation of children from their parents at the border. this comes as the justice department has asked a federal court permission to alter a settlement that limits family detention to 20 days. the former head of the office of refugee resettlement under president obama has sharply criticized the administration.

pres. trump: i signed a limited order yeyesterday. no matter how you cut it, it leads to separation ultimately. i'm working to keep illegal immigrant families together during the immigration process and to reunite these previously separated groups. amy: on thursday, a senior trump -- on thursday, first lady melania trump made a surprise visit to a mcallen detention center in texas. she was wearing a jacket that read, scrawled across the back of the jacket, "i really don't care, do u?" she spoke to reporters after her visit. rececognize each of you andnd thank you for what you do, for ththe work yoyou do every day ad

what you do for ththose childre. we all know they are here without their famamilies. i would also like to ask you how childldren tose rereunite with their families as quickly as possible. any to which he asked how the children were doing, one of the workers at the facility said that they are traumatized. meanwhile, mayors of about 200 u.s. cities gathered at a holding facility for immigrant children in the border city of ofpaso, accused trump failing to address the crisis. back in washington hard-right , a immigration bill failed to pass the house and republican leaders delayed a planned vote on a compromise bill that would offer dreamers a pathway to citizenship and includes $25 billion fofor trump's bordrder . around the country, protests contininued agnsnst trump'zero tolerae e poli. in new york,ozozens pararen and babies tk k overhe o offes

of the fie office rector f ice enrcrcemenand d reval operations children sg g togeer a andrew papererearts to leave behind in suppo o of thmorere tn chilenen tak frorom eir 00 pararts. this ionone of the kids, speaking through tears. >> the children being kept in cages have no clue what is going on. the parents love their kids and they want to know they will be ok. here to takell be peaceful actioion. amy: also here in new york, an immigrant mother from guatemala who fears deportation went into physical sanctuary in a church in new york city on thursday. debora berenice vasquez said she was told to leave the country in may during a routine check-in with federal officials at ice and fears separation from 10-year old son kener, a u.s. citizen.

the understand now what that arere feeling being separated from theirir children. and it is important that we remember that this is not only happening on the borders, but it is also happening i in new york. states across the country. amy: as concerns grow about poor coordination between customs and border patrol, which takes the children, and the office of refugee resettlement, which puts them into shelters and foster care, the intercept has a new report on one of the first reunification's. reporter debbie nathan spoke to a guatemalan woman whose five-year-old son was taken from her last month by immigration authorities in texas after she

sought asylum. she has been reunited with him after 38 days in detention. this is a clip from the intercept's video when we hear the mother, delia, who uses a pseudonym, describe what happened. we will hear that clip after this break. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. poorncerns grow about coordination between customs and border patrol, which takes the children, the office of refugee

resettlement which puts them into shelters and foster care, the intercept has a new report one of the first reunifications. debbie nathan spoke to a guatemalan woman whose five-year-old son was taken from her last month by immigration authorities in texas after she sought asylum, has been reunited with him after 38 days in detention. this is a clip from the intercept's video when we hear the mother, delia, who uses a pseudonym, describe what happened. >> they tricked me. they told me we should go to the bus, that we were leaving. i was happy i was going to be with my son. when i sat down on the bus, my boy and i were both crying. then they said, ma'am, get off.

amy: for more, we're joined by debbie nathan, independent journalist based in brownsville, texas, on the mexico border. she reports for the intercept. her latest keys, -- her latest piece "an abused woman c came to ththe u.s. seeking asysylum. the government took her 5-year-old son. this is how she got him back." welcome back to democracy now! can youu describe just that, well, the woman going by delia, how she got her little boy back. >> it took an incredible amount of resources and it was really happenstance. i had located this woman and started investigating her case back in early may.

as i continued reporting, i contacted organizations and lawyers to get more information about how the process worked or doesn't work. in the course of that reporting, a lawyer said she would go visit delia in detention. she decided to take her case. now she had a pro bono lawyer am at which is something that most people in the situation don't have at this point. this lawyer is a very good immigration lawyer and guided were prepared delia to do a credible fear hearing, which he had and it was very successful. she pastor credible fear test. the lawyer went to -- worked really hard to arrange with the agency that had managed the case of the little boy who probably have been in foster care. she did paperwork. as soon as delia got out of detention, a lawyer and her husband drove her down to get her little boy. it was a lot of work that took

place outside of the government system, of whatever the doing ort says it is has done. this all took place outside and it was a really wonderful thing, but it was very exceptional. amy: talk about that. how exceptional is it? the government has just floated through an unnamed official that 500 parents have been reunited with their children. you would think if that were the case, they would not put this through an unnamed official. usually, you do that when you don't want to trace back a lie to someone. what is your sense in brownsville of what is happening? know, i have not heard about people being reunited en masse. the lawyers and is loose coalition of people in texas that have been trying to find these people and interview them and give them representation. the case a reported on is the first one they know of where

somebody was actually reunited. i'm not really sure what that means. it is certainly not something we hear about in brownsville, which is the thick of the situation. beenpeople who have separated have been in this area. amy: i want to talk about the director of the office of refugee resettlement, scott lloyd. is the agency tasked with caring for the thousands of children who have been forcefully taken -- forcibly taken from their parents. according to a political article headlined "meet the antiabortion trump appointee taking care separated kids," they write --

lloyd also served in the george w. bush administration as an attorney at hhs, health and human services, cowriting the no care on moral grounds. that is the piece of politico describing the man of what will happen to these dozens of chilildren taken from their parents. it does not sound like he has much experience with refugees, debbie nathan. >> that's right. shelters that house young females, there have been several cases where they have come up and pregnant and wanted abortions and have gone through judicial bypass in

texas so they have been given permission in texas to get an abortion, but he will not allow them to get abortions. he is ever cater their legal right in the united states -- abrogated their legal abortion rights. amy: he personally went down to texas to try to prevent an immigrant woman from getting an abortion. is that right? >> yes, but not only that, there are records were it is clear he is intervene even without being in texas. and you go i want to turn to new york, is member kathleen rice. apparently, new york has something like 700 of these separated children. they have been flung up toto new york will stop she appeared on will insert show on cnn. will blitzer's show. >> i don't see how it could possibly happen. to be frank, the administration

has basically admitted that, that there is no way that they can reunify these children with their parents. they did not take any information at the time that they took them from them. a lot of these kids barely know their own name, don't speak english. this reification process is going to be next to impossisibl, is seems t to me. hope you really understand that. there are 2300 children who may never see their parents again ever. that is on us, this country, the united days of a america. amy: that is new york congressman kathleen ricece. debbie nathan, can you respond? >> i think essentially what has happened is there is going to be an outsourcing. it has a ready happen. a group ththat hasas been invold in advocatining for unaccompmpad minors suddenly within a few days has collected almost $20 million just t om the pubublic, from peoeople out in t the commy

all over the country and probably the world. they and other groups and lawyers s i think have comome together outside of the governrnment and they y will be going in and trying to locate parents in detention. they will be trying to do this work, exactly what the lawyer who took delia's kates did. there are hundreds of people getting ready to do this or are ready doing it. -- already doing it. i think it will be this privatized outsource reunification effort going on already, very heroic. i don't think 2300 children are never going to see their parents again. i think it will take a long time. it is not systematic. as i said, i don't think the government is going to be the entity responsible for these reununifications, generally speaking. amy: we're also joined by clara researcher at human righghts watch. if you can way and around the situation of the separated

children? thehe agency doing separations, customs and border protection and border patrol, have a history of haphazard recording of the identity, especially tender age children. one of the huge challenges that i see coming up is the children have been separated, placed in these jorr facilities, who are not old enough to know the details of their parents and that has not been recorded by officials. the other huge challenge that debbie pointed to it is important to recognize is these adults are being held in immigration detention centers that have very low rates of legal representation. over 200 facilities around the country, most people don't have access to a lawyer. the idea -- it is wonderful people are supporting legal representation got incredibly important, because we need thousands of virginia's to o gon and represent these parents and fight that fightht.

amy: your president trump now talking about we are not bringing and thousands of judges. >> which completely clogs up the system, keeps these parents stuck in limbo without a decision on their cases. if i may, amy, one of the things that pop seven get is a huge stain on president obama's human rights record is long-term prololonged family detention, something we saw developed d --i know y you guys covered aftfter 2014. in 2015, i went into a family detention center and spoke with families who had been attained for your or more. they said they had suicidal feelings, anxiety, depression. amy: can you explain this? about under the obama years, family detention, everyone is now hearing about the flores settlement. they may not know it is a 15-year-old salvadoran whom this settlement is based, but it said that children cannot be held for

more than 20 days. that is what trump is dealing with now. he wants is overturned so he can continue to hold the children, at least with their parents. in fact, you're going to centers -- a reporter renee feltz was going to these centers w where fafamilies w were held for overa year. >> right, because the obama administration did not want to comply with that legal settlement, either. it took committed advocacy by plaintiff's lawyers for the floresis children children and many others to hold the obama to that short-term 20 day limit. when the obama administration resisted to did family detention ter eradicating it, eradicated inin 2009, reads to to didnn 14, , th attememed to hold people iefinitel amy: befe we go your g rertn iceetention and the

terrib conditis when it comes access to mecal care and pele dying in ic detentn, i wanto go ba to bbie natn. th woman w callserself delia came herbecausef dostic vlence. will ta about tt in a moment bause it oks like st lost debbie. we're going to go back to clara long to talk about the new report that she has just come out with. clara long is a senior researcher at human rights watch, code red. that's the name of an expxplosie human rights watch report released this week that exposes dangerously substandard medical care in ice detention facilities around the country. more people died in immigration detention in fiscal year 2017 than any year since 2009. physicians reviewed 15 deaths in immigration detention from december 2015 to april 2017,

determining that substandard medical care contributed or led to eight of the 15 deaths. here is the video human rights watch produced to accompany the report. you hear first from the report's author clara long, then from dr. robert cohen, who investigated icice medical rereports of deaen custstody. firstst one then a second seieizure in immimigran anand attention.n. our medical experts sasaid the first seizure and certainly the secocond seizure should have prompted a h high level ofof cae and concern. that did not happe he ultimimately had a a third seizizure that wasas fatal. wasaso say, wasas this death prevevtable? in ththe majorityty of the cases that arere reviewed, t theeaths re p pventable with the medical and correctional staff had done the right thing. clinton a years from 2010 to 2017, 74 people have died.

and 52 of those cases, we been able to examine some government records. in 23 cases, poor medical care contributed to the fatal outcome. >> the major problems were inadequate staffing, not having doctors on site as often as you might need to, not having medications available, delays in diagnosis, andnd d days in acces to ememergency care. people were, 6800 locked up on any given night in immigration detention. but t at number has rapidly incread d over t lasas twowo administrarations. righght now over 4 40,000 peopla detentionon centers araround the couountry. the e trump administrtration has asked for fufunding to incncreae that number to 52,000 people a night by the end of 2019. they hope to use the system to do report people rapidly and without due process.

in portland, even shorort perios of time insiside detention cents th dangerousus conditions like poor medical care can lead to serious consequences. amy: that is clara long, senior researcher at human rights watch. the author of the report "code red: the fatal consequences of dangerously substandard medical care in immigration detention." clara, continue with what you're saying in this report. it is terrifying. >> it is terrifying. what we found is ice, the agency detaining now 40,000 people a cannot once to expand, provide adequately for the safety of people that it holds. these deaths are the tip of the iceberg. one thing i wanted emphasize is although our medical experts found eight of the 15 deaths recently that we were able to review were once and which poor care contributed or led to the fatal outcome. in 14 of the 15 cases, there was clear evidence that ice

facilities and medical care professionals were involved in dangerous practices that could have caused death. amy: like? >> in many of these facilities, you licensed nurses, people who have had about 18 months of training post high school who are charged with making medical diagnoses and managing very serious conditions. in one of the cases we reviewed, congestiveew onset heart failure. he was not able to see a doctor bank and saw one of these licensed practical nurses who told him to drinink more water. , inear from people detainened the case of congestive heart failure, that can make it worse and lead to a fatal outcome because your heart is not able to clear the fluid out of your body. cases, this botched emergency response. they're in different attitudes. died in ae, a man who facility in 2015, he began to

have the symptoms of a heart attack. he had chest pain. he was sweating. a nurse entered the unit for another reason and was told, this man is sick, he is bombing. she said, i don't want to see him because i don'n't want to gt sick. that started a two hour delay for him to get to the hospital, to get care for this heart attack. our medical experts have when you're having a heart attack, time is muscle. the more time you don't get treatment for heart attack, the more your heart muscle dies. amy: tell us more of the stories of the people who you found whose deaths were directly result of the lack of medical care or the horrible medical care within the ice detention facililities. >> we mentioned in the video, a man, 23 years old with the family, children. nebraska.eizure in

the staff took his mattress and put it on the floor. they did not send him to a doctor bank. he ended up seeing a nurse. he was prescribed -- prescribed seizure medication, but there was a language barrier. there was unexplained reasons why nurses did not follow up on him not taking that medication. he had another seizure. they again did not read on. instead, putting them in an isolation cell where he seized again and died. these are people who are beloved members of communities. if you'll allow me,e, one of the things that is worrying about this executive order that we're in now in terms of the end of so-called mass family separation is that we're starting a family incarceration crisis. we're putting more and more vulnerable people into this dangerous system. already the trump administration has begun doing the generalized detention of pregnant women.

are seekingpeople who asylum, even people coming in at ports of entry trying to do everything right. -- the them in prolonged exposure is growing and grorowig to this dangerous system, which makes these findings so very worrying because more and more people will be exposed to conditions that vary predictably caused it. amy: how long on average are these people being held in ice detention? facilities. i think very few people understand all of the different layers of prisons, detention centers, tent cities. young mothers brought it from the border separated the from their children. they are in a washington state prison, yet these are not criminals. >> it is a patchwork of facilities across the united states, oftentimes in very isolated areas where it is difficult for medical

professionals or lawyers to reach. as you said, they include county jails. a majority o of them are privave prison companies that have been set up sometimes specifically for immigration detention. the trump administration has about 1500 people put in federal prison, which raises another set of concerns about how ice is supposed to ensure oversight of those conditions, have access to this people when it cannot even keep its own house in order. asked about the range of detention. these dangerous conditions affect people at many different amounts of time and attention. one case that comes to mind is a man that was a russian national who crossed into the u.s. in 2016. he carried with him in his

backpack, with his wife, his heart medication. some information about his condition. up iney put that locked his property, never examined it, and did not allow him to access it. when he was detained, he began to have chest pain. practical licensed nurse, said, ok, i will give you some nitroglycerin. chest pain and some look heart trouble should prompt nitroglycerin and a call to 911. instead, some correctional officers said, i don't know we want to have this really sick guy in our facility. so they decided to pack them up and put him in a van and drive him for hours to another facility. there he did get an ekg. he did see a doctor, but even before that ekg was red, he had another heart attack and died in his cell. of: on thursday, dozens parents and gets protested at the offices of thomas r. decker,

the new york field office director forcece enfcemementnd removal operioions iprototesof the trump adninistraon''s "zerer tolerae" policy. this is some of the voices of kids and parents. >> my name is isabel. i am here because i think it is unfair that children are getting locked up for no reason when they're not even breaking the law. >> i think this is clearly -- outraged about the family separation issue. it is so emotional. the question is, how can we take that wave of outrage and redirected or continue to focus it on u.s. policy around immigrgration morere broadlyly? >> i am eight years old. young immigrants should be free to stay with their parents and their parents should be free to stay with their kids. no kids should be in jail. >> last week i was in for my own immigration interview in the same building.

where mying vulnerable application is not fully approved yet. i am with my american children. in some ways they're giving me strength to be here so we can five for other children and other families. incarceration in general sucks. jojo and ie is am 10 years old. i am protesting that people and their kids are getting sent to jail because they're from a different country. "keep tiny hands off our children." and tiny hands means donald trump. amy: does the voices of children and parents protesting outside the ice offices in new york and inside as well. it is very important to hear these voices because these are

the voices that are changing national policy in this country as the corporate media interviews the politicians and their critical and making decisions. around therotests country this week that you norma's outcry that is clearly forced president trump into retreat. virginia turn to the governor who has called for an investstigation after the associated press expose about conditions at the shenandoah valley juvenile center. the ap reported immigrant children as young as 14 say they were beaten while handcuffed locked up for long periods in solitary confinement left new and shivering in concrete cells. can you respond to this? >> this is a detention center within office of refugee resettlement network. it is one that is holding unaccompanied children, including children who would be separated -- it is called a staff secure facility.

you were saying the power of these protests -- i have to tell you, the allegations that the complaint have been a matter of public record for over a year now. something we have been following and very concerned about. but this is the moment in which people can hear them. and that is hopeful to me. the allegations are terrible. i feel particularly impacted because i met a child and mexico who had been in that center, independent of this lawsuit, and told me exexactly the same thing that he isis seen childrenn shacackled and beaten and tased while he was detained there. amy: what about this news we were reporting on yesterday about children in detention facilities being injected with drugs and being forced to take drugs? again, of serious

concern, particularly with the staff, what they call stack-secure portions of the orr facility in which there does not seem to be adequate oversight and accountability, investigation of conditions. the most important thing to recognize here is under human rights law, children should not be detained for immigration reasons. t thesimply too harmful for countervailing governmental interest. amy: the story about the shiloh treatment center in southern houston where kids health their forcibly injected with medications t that make them dizzy, listless, obese, even in capacity did. this according to reports by reveal. meanwhile, according to another investigation, taxpayers have paid more than $1.5 billion over the past quarter years to companies operating facilities

despspite takining -- facing rat sexual and physical abuse. what kind of control is there over this immigration industrial complex? the private corporations running these facilities. some are also nonprofit. >> this is why it is so incredibly important that people are outraged by the family separation do not look away now. there needs to be increased public pressure, increased thattion to exactly question. what kind of control is there over these facilities? because no one seems to be minding the store in terms of making sure people's rights are respected. amy: clara long, zinke for being with us, -- thank you for being with us senior researcher at , human rights watch. she's the author of the report "code red: the fatal consequences of dangerously substandard medical care in immigration detention." when we come back, the harrowing story of a man held in detention in broward county, florida, terrified if you was returned to efrain bamaca velasquez he would he would be killed.

on the way back from the cairo airport, he took his own life. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to the story of zeresenay ermias testfatsion, who took his own life at cairo international airport earlier this month after being deported from the united states. he was 34 years old. zeresenay was detained in the united states for more than a year after fleeing his home country of eritrea and seeking asylum here in the united states at the texas border in 2017. he then spent more than a year in immigration detention, first in south florida and then in ohio, before being deported this month. zeresenay was in transit back to eritrea when he died by suicide at the cairo international airport more than two weeks ago. but his family has yet to locate his body. friends and family are demanding to know why he was deported to eritrea, despite his fears that he would be tortured or even killed if he returned home. on tuesday, i spoke to his friend bereket sibhatu.

bereket sibhatu was not alerted when zeresenay was transferred nor was he told his friend was going to be deported. here you speaking tuesday about his friend zeresenay ermias testfatsion. he had a hope and he was a very nice guy. he became a friend. he even helped his friend there in detention. he would give them encouragement, one day this was all going to be ovever, we are going to be ok, we're in ththe right country. we have a peace of mind right now and just wait for the day to come up from here. then one day they will get together and we will talk about what happened in the story. he had a dream. amamy: did he tell you what he

most feared if you were deported to eritrea? >> what he said in his testimony -- they y ask him what would happen if you went back to eritrea. , i might go to jail or tortured, might even get killed. amy: do o you believe the u.s. supporting zeresenay was a death sentence for him? >> that is what i believe know eritreaey right now, you cannot be deported, why zeresenay a as to get deported for that situation. he ended up killing himself. amy: how does it make you feel, bereket sibhatu?

>> i feel very sad. family toe time, the find out how it happened, how could hangimself in the cairo airport. the loveded ones, they want to find out how he would kill himself, hang himself in the bathroom. at the same time, i talked yesterday to one of his cousins what his body is still in cairo. mommy is waiting every single day inin the airportrt. amy: in the airport where? --in the airport of eritrea to get his remain body. amy: that was bereket sibhatu, speaking about his friend ,eresenay ermias testfatsion

who took his own life at cairo international airport earlier this month after being deported from the united states to eritrea. isan rights reports eritrea "one of the world's most oppressive governments." according to a 2016 report, eritreans are often required to serve in national military service indefinitely. "the wasashington post" reports that -- "those who attempt to flee thehe country are consnsidered traitors. the guardian reported this week that at least three eritrean teenagers have died by suicide in the britain in the past six months. the teenagers came to britain from the calais migrant camp. well, for more, we're joined by christstine ho, founding directr of friends of broward detainees, a volunteer visitation program that provides humanitarian support for unauthorized immigrants and asylum seekers inside broward transitional center, an immigrant detention center in south florida. she visited zeresenay ermias testfatsion in detention. christine, welcome to democracy now! we only have a few minutes. he so clearly had real fear that he would be killed for leaving military service in eritrea if

you were returned, as so many are fearful of doing. how did he end up dead at cairo airport? >> i am very honored to be invited here today. felt only guess that he hopelessness and despair, which is actually quite common in immigration detention. which is not a picnic for anyone. not only is it not for children, but also for adult. it is highly stressful, which is well documented by a body of psychological research. it basically -- one of the --sons why detention is takes a psychological toll, because they have no idea how long they're going to be in detention. so the suspense kills them, in a sense. in his case, i think he had high because being released

inisited one of his friends the broward transitional center a couple of weeks ago. he told me he is received a letter written in ohio by zeresenay, you mentioned in the letter that he expected to be released in a week or two. and so it must -- i mean, he must have been -- amy: did you feel this deportation was a death sentence for zeresenay? >> it could very well be in the sense that it must have filled him with such hopelessness and despair as well as fear of what he might experience if he actually did return to his homeland. amy: in the last unit that we have, can you talk about the psychological effects of long-term detention? you visited hundreds of detainees at the broward county facility.

zeresenay have been there for about a year. >> yes. it takes a tremendous toll. first of all, it is especially difficult for asylum seekers asylum the processing claims takes a long time. months, sometimes years. -- and because they have no idea how long it is going to be, it really takes a psychological toll. it has been described by others as soul-destroying. it is also a very difficult experience on a day-to-day basis. daily indignities, daily humiliations. and also pettiness. it is in addition to the medical issues that were discussed by clara long. amy: christine ho, we have to

end of the show. i want to thank you for being with us, founding director of friends of broward detainees, a will continue to follow this case. we want to wish after birthday to karen.

[soothing instrumental music] ♪ [peaceful folk music] ♪