Rights Groups Decry Conditions of Detained Mothers and Children at Artesia Family Detention Center

"Immigrant rights groups spoke about the conditions at one detention center in New Mexico on Thursday, and the insufficient resources mothers and children are faced with.  Representatives of 22 groups met with mothers and children at a detention facility in Artesia, New Mexico.  Immigrants' rights advocates and lawyers were allowed to speak to families but under "tightly controlled" tours.  During a press call moderated by National Immigration Law Center Executive Director Marielena Hincapié, Women's Refugee Commission's Migrant Rights and Justice Director Michelle Brané, American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Immigrants' Rights Project's Cecillia Wang and National Immigrant Justice Center's Policy Director Royce Bernstein Murray spoke about the trip at the Artesia detention facility.  According to Hincapié, the situation at the U.S. and Mexican border is escalating due to children fleeing from violence from their native Central American countries.  She explained they had to get an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to meet with the families, but the DOJ only allowed conversations with adults at the detention center.  Hincapié said mothers and children are crowded at the Artesia facility and many of them had their Due Process rights violated." - Latin Post, July 24, 2014.