Judge Approves Settlement Of Lawsuit On Immigrant Children Detention

Thursday, August 30th 2007, 7:33 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ A federal judge approved a settlement agreement Wednesday that calls for changes at a former Texas prison where illegal immigrant children are detained with their families.

In approving the settlement Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote that the Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor was not ideal, but it was what was available to house the families.

``The Hutto facility is, realistically, what's available. Hutto is not ideal,'' Sparks wrote. ``It is a former prison. It is, and will remain, constructed in a manner designed to house adult inmates.''

A deal was announced Monday as a trial in the lawsuit was set to open in Austin. Some of the changes include installing privacy curtains around toilets and adding a full-time pediatrician to the staff at Hutto. It also would eliminate a counting system that required families to be in their cells 12 hours a day and allow a federal magistrate to periodically review the detention center.

A lawsuit filed earlier this year alleged the children were wrongfully held with their families in prison-like conditions at Hutto. It sought the release of the immigrants and improved conditions at the center, where families live in cells with bunk beds and a toilet.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Texas School of Law Immigration Clinic filed the lawsuit on behalf of 26 young detainees and former detainees, contending that conditions at Hutto violated an agreement that called for immigration authorities to house children in nonsecure, licensed programs such as shelters or foster homes.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees Hutto, has always contended residents are treated with dignity and respect.