Since last summer, Homeland Security has been routinely holding women and children in detention centers across Texas and New Mexico. Under pressure from border states, the Obama administration made the decision in order to stave off the large influx of undocumented workers. But the policy has been applied broadly, without regard to the individual circumstances that brought families to the border.
The women and children were detained even after they had asked for asylum and passed the initial test to prove their cases, showing they had credible fears of facing persecution if they were sent home. Their petitions for release were routinely denied.
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