The treatment teens were subjected to in a Virginia facility “are unacceptable and un-American, whether or not they meet the state’s legal threshold for abuse or neglect,” says ACLU

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 8-13-2018

Virginia state investigators confirmed that immigrant children who were held at Shenendoah Valley Detention Center were strapped to chairs with bags placed over their heads—but said their treatment did not meet the definition of abuse. (Photo: Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center)

Completing a month-long probe into allegations of abuse at a detention facility in Staunton, Virginia, state investigators confirmed that immigrant children were strapped to chairs with bags placed over their head, as several had alleged—but claimed that this treatment did not meet the definition of abuse.

The actions of government officials toward these children, who hadn’t been convicted of any crime, are unacceptable and un-American, whether or not they meet the state’s legal threshold for abuse or neglect. https://t.co/QTTZu5NUfM

— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) August 13, 2018

Several immigrants, some as young as 14, alleged in June that staffers at Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center (SVJC) had beaten them while they were handcuffed and placed them in solitary confinement for long periods of time. A child development specialist at the facility also told the Associated Press that she saw several children there with broken bones.

According to the AP, many detainees had been sent to the facility after the federal government accused them of being gang members—but a staff member told a Senate subcommittee in April that the immigrants in the center “weren’t necessarily identified as gang-involved individuals.”

Several plaintiffs in a lawsuit against SVJC which began last November, represented by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, were held there under both the Obama and Trump administrations, between 2015 and 2018.

The abuse allegations drew widespread condemnation, with Daily Beast reporter Kelly Weill calling SVJC “Abu Ghraib for eighth graders” and Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam calling on state officials to conduct a thorough investigation into the conditions at the center.

The review found that a “restraint chair” is sometimes used at the facility, and “a mesh spit guard can be placed on the resident’s head.” A 23-hour incident of solitary confinement was also identified. But the state “found no abuse or neglect had taken place.”

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee said Monday that the investigation was “deeply flawed.”

“The fact that they conducted all interviews under the watchful eye of detention staff and failed to even talk to counsel who have collected evidence and litigated the case for nearly a year, demonstrates a lack of seriousness in the review,” said Jonathan Smith, the group’s executive director.

But Northam readily accepted the state’s report that no abuse has taken place at SVJC, saying in a statement, “I applaud the quick and comprehensive examination conducted by the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Social Services, and encourage the facility to heed their recommendations. The safety of every child being held there is of the utmost importance.”

Northam’s response to the report on Monday shocked and dismayed critics.

Sounds like the “the legal definition of abuse or neglect” needs to change drastically and yesterday. And that they should interview those teens who reported the abuse for the report. @GovernorVA @timkaine @MarkWarner.

As Jesus would say, “WTAF.”https://t.co/J6GuD5lYYe

— Seth Wispelwey (@RevSethDub) August 13, 2018

This is horrid:
•Virginia Concentration Camp strapped migrant kids to chairs
•Harsh restraints included mesh bags over their heads
•Kids were stripped naked & locked away

Worst of all—State review says treatment *did not constitute abuse or neglect*😳
https://t.co/7jCkbetNWN

— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) August 13, 2018