March 27, Natalie Nanasi, assistant professor of law at the SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law, for a commentary cautioning U.S. immigration officials that “decompression centers” — such as the one at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas housing over 3,000 unaccompanied teen boys — ought to be temporary and not allowed to become like a prison. Published in The Hill: http://bit.ly/3rrLaTG
The green cots — 2,300 of them to be exact — are what throw you off when you enter the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
The venue usually hosts auto shows or conventions where industry types talk shop. But this March weekend, the cavernous Hall D morphed into a temporary home for thousands of unaccompanied boys from Central America — fresh faces and reminders of generations of failed immigration policy that continues to afflict the lives of migrants in the margins.
Continue reading “Dallas ‘decompression center’ can’t become another prison for migrant youth”