Immigrant mothers: Detention center harmful to kids

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas detention centers for families caught illegally crossing the southern U.S. border are more like jails that have sickened kids, affected their mental health and put them in danger, a group of immigrant mothers testified Friday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through the private prison firms that run the two Texas detention centers, has been working to get the facilities licensed after a California federal judge last year ruled immigrant children couldn't be held at centers not licensed as child care facilities.

After the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services last month issued a temporary license to the 500-bed facility in Karnes City, the Austin-based advocacy group Grassroots Leadership sued, saying the agency didn't have the authority to license such centers as child care facilities.

The Associated Press is not publishing the mothers' names after Crump ordered they not be identified, saying doing so could put them at risk as they fled their home countries because of gang threats.

Advocates say the Texas lawsuit is part of their broader legal efforts to have federal officials again adhere to a longtime agreement that called for children and their families to be held only for a short time before being released to family, friends or others while their cases are decided.