teenvogue:

ICE Is Detaining Teens on Their 18th Birthdays

• Immigration officers are handcuffing and jailing unaccompanied immigrant detainees on their 18th birthdays, according to a new report by The Miami New Times.
• Unaccompanied minors who are under 18 have certain protections, like more comfortable living situations and connection to their families, that undocumented immigrants over 18 are not provided. 
• According to Lisa Lehner, an attorney with Americans for Immigrant Justice, the detainees are immediately treated as adults once they reach 18. “When they turn 18, it’s basically, ‘Happy birthday,’ and then they slap on handcuffs and take them off to adult detention centers,” Lehner told the New Times.
• Immigration agents reportedly place handcuffs on the newly adult detainees, chain their handcuffs to their waists, shackle their legs together, and drive them to immigration jails. There, the 18-year-olds are often put into cells with people twice their age, the New Times reported. 
• Since April, ICE agents have done this to over a dozen 18-year-olds at the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Florida, according to the New Times’ report.

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📸: NurPhoto