A recent report from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office (ICE) stated that over 1,300 juveniles were held in adult immigration detention facilities for days and some for months. Federal regulations require that juveniles be transferred out of adult prison facilities within 72 hours. A recent report released to the National Immigration Justice Center indicated that over one thousand children were illegally housed by ICE in adult jails for over three days, some for as long as six months.

The ACLU commented that this fact was: “really, really troubling” and went on to say that often juveniles are kept in solitary confinement to protect them while they are in adult facilities.

The report from ICE took into account information from over thirty detention facilities in more than ten different states. This information provided that at least 1,366 minors were held illegally in adult facilities.

It seems to me that if the public is just now finding out about the wrongdoing, there are likely other injustices that went along with the illegal housing. How many of these children got to talk to lawyers about their situation, or even knew they could? How many of the children were physically or mentally abused while being housed in an adult facility? And, what were the conditions like for these children?

If you have questions about criminal immigration or any other criminal law matter, call me, Jeffrey Vallens (818) 783-5700 or (888) 764-4340 or email me: vallenslaw@yahoo.com or  visit www.4criminaldefense.com or www.westlakecriminaldefense.com