Thread by @RAICESTEXAS

Today the Trump administration announced a plan to kill the Flores Settlement. This is the agreement that’s supposed to stop them from locking children up for longer than 20 days, and is meant to force the gov't to treat those in detention with basic human rights. #SaveFlores

We asked some of the immigrants we advocate for what detention was like for them and their children.

The following tweets are their responses.
They show why killing the Flores Settlement would be a violation of human rights.
We must #SaveFlores.

Carlos: “Detention has affected my son emotionally, as well as psychologically, because he should be free and play freely. He keeps asking when we are going to get out of here and we don’t know a thing so we tell them that we don’t know, either."...cont.

"Truthfully, this has been a prison, a living hell, for them, for all of our little ones. I would've rather been killed in my country than see this happen to my son.”

#SaveFlores

Josue: "When my father and I presented ourselves in front of immigration, the officials did not tell me they would separate me from my father. That same night they took me to another place where there was other kids..." cont.

“There the official of immigration would yell at us without justification. He separated me from the group and put me in a room by myself. The other kids ages 13 and under were in another room where they could watch television.”...cont.
#SaveFlores

"I remember a brother & sister that were also separated. They tried sending each other signals of love through the window until the official placed paper in all the windows, so they couldn’t see each other anymore."...cont. #SaveFlores

"I could not sleep that night, I arrived there at 1 am and I had no idea where my father was. They later took me to a new detention center. After 40 days I was able to speak to my dad. During my time there, I asked frequently where my father was, I was so worried."...cont.

"Sometimes I did not want to speak to my mom because in the video call her and my siblings would cry. My mom would ask for my father a lot."...cont.

"On Day 57 they told me they would reunite me with my father but not that they would take me to another place. With all the time that we have been detained I feel like a criminal except I didn't do anything wrong.”
#SaveFlores

Paola: “Sometimes anything seemed better than being in the children’s shelter. Being detained made me desperate. It made me feel the same helplessness -- for what my family had done -- I then wanted to escape."

#SaveFlores

"Then the shelter sent me to an adult jail on my 18th birthday. In the jail I felt like I was being punished. I cried a lot. We had no support. No social worker. They did not really let you see the doctor."...cont.

#SaveFlores

"I felt alone. It was always cold and the food was terrible. And the people that worked in the jail were so mean. I had to go to jail because I did not qualify for foster care I was told."...cont.

"I cannot imagine having to wait in the shelter or jail for a year and a half for my case to finish. Children should have the same rights even if they come with parents. A child is a child.”

#SaveFlores