Desiree Miller:
Yes, thank you for that question.
I’m able to speak to her every day. So, we usually talk every morning. And, obviously, there’s some really concerning things that she’s told me about the conditions inside of the detention.
I think some of the main ones are that people don’t receive the medical attention that they need. In particular, there are some pregnant women who don’t get medical attention. And a lot of the times, when people ask for medical attention, they’re just given water. The water smells weird in there. They have been given food multiple times that it’s either expired or makes people sick.
There’s a lot of talk about whether or not the conditions are humane or not, but I think that there’s no way to make that situation humane when you have ripped someone away from their family.
All of these things that they do to make it seem as if it’s humane, letting people talk to their families, having video calls and having these — quote, unquote — “mental health checkups,” I think that no mental health checkup is going to make up for the amount of trauma that has been inflicted by being ripped away from their families and trying and having my wife and other people — trying to deport them without cause.
