These are the first hand accounts of detained children.
They are painful to experience.
You may want to look away.
But if they can bear it, surely so can we…
“All the walls were metal fences, like a kennel for animals. We were not allowed to exercise or go outside. They separated me from my mother. She asked them not to separate us, but they ignored her. I would try to talk to my mom across the cells, but the guards would get mad at us. I let my mom know that I was getting sick, but there was nothing she could do. I kept crying and felt very depressed. It was the worst experience of my life.”
“I am 5 years old. I am from Honduras. I left with my father because Honduras is a dangerous place to live. The agents separated me from my father. I cried. I have not seen my father again. I am frightened, scared and sad. It is cold at night when we sleep. I had to sleep on the floor.”
“I gathered things inside a bag and I tried to escape from the center. I tried to open the window. The supervisor saw me do this, and in response, he violently threw me against the door. This made me feel like I was choking and it was hard for me to breathe. I told the supervisor to stop because I couldn't breathe. I don’t remember for how long I was held in this painful position, but it was a long time. I briefly fainted. I miss my mother, and I really want to be reunited with her. My mother lives in Los Angeles, and it is very hard for me not to know when I will be able to see her again.”
“We were not given clean water to drink. We had to drink water from the bathroom sink with our bare hands, which were dirty since we were not able to wash them after toileting because there was no soap. I was really becoming desperate from being locked up inside the whole time, without any chance to get outdoors and move around. My mother keeps telling me to stop chewing my nails. I have been biting them because I am so anxious from being locked up.”
“I am 8 years old. was brought to the United States by my aunt who took care of me in Guatemala. They separated me from my aunt. I cried and they did not tell me where I was going. I was taken to this place where I have been for 3 days. I have not showered or changed my clothes. I stay in a room with lots of children. We can only go outside the room to get water. The kids take care of each other. The bathroom is in the room. I do not know where my mother lives or when I will be able to see her.”
“There was no soap, no water for washing our hands or face, no toothbrushes or toothpaste. It was so cold that our teeth would hurt and our throats would hurt. We were given nothing but a plastic blanket to keep us warm. They left the lights on all day and night. We lost track of day and night. We did not see sunlight for days and could not sleep.”
“They separated me and my twin from my sister and her son and since that time, for 13 days, we have been in Border Patrol detention. We are being held in a cold cell. About three days ago I got a fever. They moved me alone to a flu cell. There is no one to take care of your there. They just give you pills twice a day. I am having an allergic reaction all over my skin. My skin is itchy and red. The food is the same here every day. There is Oatmeal in the morning. In the afternoon there is soup. In the evening they give us a burrito. There is nothing to do all day, just watch television. We cry a lot and other kids in the cell also cry. There was a four-year-old boy in my cell for 15 days. He said he came with his father, but they separated them. It’s so ugly to be locked up all the time. We haven’t been able to speak to anyone in our family.”
“When I was first picked up they took me to a place that had tents but I was then taken into a building nearby that was freezing cold that was called the ice box. We slept on the floor. It was freezing. I’m in an isolation room now because I have the flu. I wasn’t sick when I arrived. I think everyone here has the flu. There are 7 of us in this room. There is a baby with its mother. The baby is sick, not the mother. The older girls try to help take care of the littler girls. I clean them and help them get dressed. Another girl who is in here for the flu changes their diapers. There is one bed in the room. The younger children share the bed. The others sleep on the floor. I’m always cold. I haven’t had a shower the whole time I have been here. They threw away all of my clothes except what I was wearing when I got here.”
“My little sister and I came from Honduras. She is six years old and I am eight years old. Our grandmother brought us to the United States so that we can live with our mother because it is not safe for us to stay in Honduras. They took us away from our grandmother and now we are all alone. We have been here for a long time. I have to take care of my little sister. My sister has been very sick. The doctor told her not to cry because if she cries she will get sicker. One of the children in our cell is mean to us and tell us that we can’t play and that we will be locked in a dark room here. I believe her. We sleep on a cement bench. There are two mats in the room but the big kids sleep on the mats so we have to sleep on the cement bench. We have been wearing the same clothes the entire time we have been here and no one has washed them. My sister and I hold a blanket up for one another so no one can see us when we go to the bathroom.”
“I had to leave El Salvador because a gang in my neighborhood threatened to kill me if I did not give them money on a regular basis. One time I was beaten by five gang members. My mother said that I had to leave because she could not protect me. I have been at Clint for 19 days. The facility is locked. I cannot leave. One of the other teen boys got into trouble and we were told that he was taken to the freezer box - hieleras - as punishment. I am in a room with dozens of other boys. Some have been as young as 3 or 4 years old. Some cry. Right now there is a 12 year old who cries a lot. One of the officers makes fun of those who cry. We spend the entire day in our room.”
