Immigrant families incarcerated?

Wow. This might not be a strictly feminist issue, but the idea of detaining immigrant families who are seeking asylum needs to be discussed. I really don't understand how this is the first time I had heard about this? The T. Don Hutto Residential Center, in Taylor, Texas, detains non-criminal, non-Mexican immigrant families as they await their immigration hearings or their return to their countries of origin. It was a former medium-security prison, and nearly half the detainees have been children. Fortunately, the facility has been undergoing some policy changes to make it more friendly for the families who are detained there.

“The detention of immigrants is the fastest-growing form of incarceration in this country, and, with the support of the Bush Administration, it is becoming a lucrative business."

Please read this article from The American Civil Liberties Union, and this one from The New Yorker.

Thanks to Feministe for bringing this to my attention.