Wrongfully Detained U.S. Citizen Francisco Galicia Almost Deported Himself To Escape ‘Inhumane’ Conditions
Reason reports that Francisco Erwin Galicia, an American citizen born in Dallas, was wrongfully detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the conditions of the facility he was kept in were so bad that he almost signed deportation papers.
According to Galicia, he lost 26 pounds during his 23-day stint in custody and wasn’t allowed to shower for the entire duration. He was reportedly kept in a holding area with 60 other men, and all of them were forced to sleep on the floor with aluminum-foil blankets as bedding.
“It was inhumane how they treated us,” he told the Dallas Morning News.
“It got to the point where I was ready to sign a deportation paper just to not be suffering there anymore. I just needed to get out of there.”
Galicia stayed in a border patrol station in Clint, Texas, a facility that CBP agents have previously voiced concern about due to its reportedly deteriorating conditions.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, physician Dolly Lucio Sevier visited the Ursula CBP facility in McAllen, Texas, the largest in the country, and described the inhumane conditions she saw. Per ABC News, she compared the conditions to “torture.”
“The conditions within which they are held could be compared to torture facilities,” she said. “It just felt, you know, lawless.”
How bad are conditions in the immigration detention centers? This young U.S. citizen considered signing deportation papers just to get out. https://t.co/c4Bn8d4eL2
— reason (@reason) July 26, 2019
Sevier claims that all of the 39 children she assessed under the age of 18 showed evidence of trauma, and all were exposed to 24 hours a day of light, as well as a lack of medical care, water, food, and basic sanitation. In addition, parents were not given the ability to wash their child’s bottle.
“To deny parents the ability to wash their infant’s bottles is unconscionable and could be considered intentional mental and emotional abuse.”
Donald Trump’s administration has been cracking down on immigrants in recent months and weeks. Per The Inquisitr, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reportedly expanding its powers by changing the use of its “expedited removal” deportation program. Although the program used to allow for the fast-track deportation of immigrants that entered the U.S. within the past 14 days, it will soon allow the process for immigrants that have been in the U.S. for less than two years.
Per Business Insider, the new move essentially “permits the immigration officer to serve both as prosecutor (charged with enforcing the law) and judge (rendering a final decision on the case),” according to the American Immigration Council (AIC), who plans to sue the Trump administration over the expansion.
