Thread by @RAICESTEXAS

Karnes might be empty right now...
The women once locked up in there, separated & taken around the country to hide the truth behind what went on there.

But we know what happened and we'll continue to share #StoriesFromKarnes until we #ShutDownKarnes.
tw: suicide 👇🏾

ICE and GEO weren't able to provide adequate medical care for adult women.

What makes us think it'll be anything different once they re-open Karnes to families and children?

We're working with the amazing team at @TXCivilRights to highlight this next story. 👇🏾

We feel it's one of the most crucial to tell because it shows just how far ICE and GEO's actions (o lack thereof) can go.

Laura* is a young Salvadoran single mother who has now been separated from her preschool age son for over 2 months.

When she was told her credible fear determination would be negative, she thought she’d never see him again.

The mental strain compounded and she attempted suicide.

Thankfully Laura’s* attempt was unsuccessful. But the resulting medical care showed how ill-equipped Karnes is to deal with the traumatic policies the administration is levying on parents.

For nearly 3 weeks Laura* was placed under medical isolation with no one to talk to, nothing to do, and blank walls to stare at. During this time she was given only a thin medical cover to wear with no clothes underneath, while male guards took watch.

The only medication she was provided was a strong sedative that put her to sleep for several hours; eventually, she refused to take these.

Even worse, she was rarely allowed to speak to anyone close to her, including her mother & attorneys with whom she built a relationship.

If Laura’s* case has taught us anything, it’s that Karnes officials' solution to care for a distraught mother, who attempted a desperate act to end her suffering, was further isolation and humiliation.

Sadly, Laura’s* story is far from unique. She is one of hundreds of ongoing forced separations caused by the administration's implementation of a "zero-tolerance" policy that are still happening to this day.

Under “zero-tolerance,” Laura* was prosecuted for 1325 charges, which provided the government a reason to separate her from her young son.

Before she was taken to court, agents lied and told Laura that her son would be waiting for her when she returned.

After all this Laura* was given notice that she passed her credible fear interview. She now has a chance to leave detention, but ICE has decided to transfer her to another detention facility, with the continued ongoing trauma of separation and concerns for mental health.

These stories must end. #ShutDownKarnes.

Mass separations and mass detention should never happen in the first place, but now that they have, the only way to truly treat the trauma is to release Laura* & other mothers like her, so she can pursue her claims under family care.

As ICE starts to bring children back into Karnes, unable to take care of adults, let alone children, are they going to deny these children the legal protections that existed previously & medical care?

If you care, please tweet @ICEgov and tell them what you'd like them to do.