Hutto Updates: No Decision Next Week

I just checked the Williamson County Commissioner's Court agenda for next Tuesday, and it appears that the Hutto contract termination decision will not be made on October 23rd, but be delayed at least week.

As Eye on Williamson notes today, the discussion around contract termination centers on a worry that Williamson County could be held liable in lawsuits against the facility. The decision is not being made on the basis that it is unethical to incarcerate children and their families, a point underlined by a video of Commissioner Cynthia Long telling reporters that the imprisoned families at Hutto have it "far better than the conditions that the vast majority of these people have left."

EOW also features a rebuttal from UT Law Professor Barbara Hines to Long's claim that "unfortunately as children some time we have to suffer with the sins of our parent," implying that the children's parents have committed crimes. Hines offers this in response:

No one at Hutto has been charged with any crime. It is a misdemeanor to enter the US illegally but ICE does not routinely lodge these charges. The statute is 8 USC 1325. Everyone at Hutto is charged with a civil violation of the immigration law. The law provides that those who fear persecution as many do have the right to make that claim in the context of their deportation case. In addition not everyone at Hutto has entered illegally. The Iraqi Christians detained at Hutto come to the border and ask for asylum at the bridge. They don’t enter illegally and are still detained at Hutto. Other detainees come to the airport with valid visas but seek asylum, they end up at Hutto. I strongly disagree with her statement that people are better off at Hutto than where they came from. How many detainees has she talked to?

Check back here and at EOW for more news on the T. Don Hutto detention center developments.