Children left short of clean water and sleep amid ‘prolonged’ detention by Ice, watchdog groups allege – The Guardian

Report on Conditions at South Texas Family Residential Center and Implications for Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

This report analyzes allegations of inhumane conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dilley, Texas, operated by the private company CoreCivic. Based on a recent court filing by legal monitoring groups, this analysis evaluates the reported conditions against key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting significant conflicts with the global agenda for health, education, justice, and basic human rights.

Summary of Allegations

A court filing submitted by legal experts monitoring child detention standards outlines several critical failures at the facility. These allegations suggest significant deviations from humanitarian standards and legal requirements, such as the Flores settlement agreement. The primary concerns raised include:

• Prolonged Detention: Children have been held for weeks or months, exceeding the general legal limit of 20 days.
• Inadequate Basic Needs: Reports indicate shortages of clean drinking water and essential hygiene supplies, forcing families to purchase them.
• Poor Living Conditions: Detainees described a “prison-like environment” with constant light and noise from officials, leading to chronic sleep deprivation.
• Deficient Medical Care: Accounts detail delayed emergency medical attention for conditions like appendicitis and a lack of necessary therapies for children with chronic illnesses.
• Substandard Education: Educational activities are limited to one hour per day and reportedly lack substantive instruction.
• Psychological Harm: The environment has allegedly led to emotional abuse, distress, anxiety, and instances of self-harm among children.

Assessment in Relation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The conditions reported at the Dilley facility present direct challenges to the achievement of several core SDGs, particularly those concerning health, education, water, and justice for vulnerable populations.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

This goal aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all. The allegations indicate a severe disregard for this objective:

1. Physical Health: Reports of delayed emergency surgery and missed therapies for children with leukemia or autism spectrum disorders undermine Target 3.8 (achieve universal health coverage and access to quality essential health-care services).
2. Mental Health: Chronic sleep deprivation, emotional distress, and self-harm are direct contraventions of efforts to promote mental health and well-being (Target 3.4).
3. Hygiene: A lack of access to basic hygiene products compromises fundamental health standards necessary for well-being.

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 4 is dedicated to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education. The educational provisions at the facility fall critically short of this goal:

1. Access and Quality: Limiting schooling to one hour per day with activities consisting mainly of worksheets fails to provide a quality primary education (Target 4.1).
2. Learning Environment: The stressful and “prison-like” conditions are not conducive to effective learning, undermining the creation of safe and inclusive learning environments for all (Target 4.a).

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

The goal to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all is directly compromised by the reported conditions:

1. Access to Safe Water: Allegations of “dirty” water and the frequent unavailability of drinkable water violate the principle of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all (Target 6.1).

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

SDG 16 focuses on promoting just, peaceful, and inclusive societies and building effective, accountable institutions. The situation at the Dilley center raises concerns related to several targets:

1. Protection of Children: The reported conditions, including prolonged detention and psychological harm, conflict with Target 16.2 (end abuse, exploitation, and all forms of violence against and torture of children).
2. Rule of Law: Alleged violations of the Flores settlement agreement, a legal standard for child detention, question the adherence to the rule of law and equal access to justice (Target 16.3).
3. Accountable Institutions: The operation of the facility by a private entity on behalf of a government agency highlights the need for accountability and transparency from both public and private institutions to protect human rights (Target 16.6).

Conclusion

The allegations detailed in the court filing indicate that conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center are fundamentally at odds with international commitments to sustainable development. The reported deficiencies in healthcare, education, access to clean water, and adherence to legal standards represent significant failures to uphold the principles of the SDGs, particularly in the protection of vulnerable children and families. These findings underscore a critical disconnect between institutional practices in immigration detention and the global agenda for ensuring human dignity, well-being, and justice for all.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

   The article highlights several issues within an ICE detention facility that directly connect to multiple Sustainable Development Goals. The primary SDGs addressed are:

   • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

     This goal is central to the article, which details numerous health-related concerns. It reports on “inadequate medical care,” citing a boy who required emergency surgery for appendicitis only after a six-hour delay. It also mentions “chronic sleep deprivation” due to lights being left on and noise, and mental health issues evidenced by a child engaging in “self-harm.” The overall “cruel and fundamentally harmful” conditions described directly impact the physical and mental well-being of the detainees, especially children.

   • SDG 4: Quality Education

     The article explicitly addresses the lack of quality education for children in the facility. It states that “School takes place just one hour daily for each age group and typically constitutes drawing, painting and worksheets, but little real teaching.” This falls far short of the goal to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education.

   • SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

     This goal is directly relevant due to the “shortages of clean drinking water” mentioned. The article describes families being unwilling to consume “‘dirty’ water that smells ‘so horrible'” and notes that “drinkable water is often unavailable unless they buy it.” Furthermore, the “lack of hygiene products” like shampoo and body soap, which must be paid for, relates to the sanitation aspect of this goal.

   • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

     The context of the article, which focuses on the detention of immigrant families as part of an “aggressive anti-immigration agenda,” connects to the goal of reducing inequalities based on origin and migratory status. The treatment of detainees, who are called “inmates” despite not being criminals, and their confinement in a “prison-like environment” points to discriminatory practices that deny them equal opportunity and protection.

   • SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

     This goal is addressed through the article’s focus on legal and justice-related issues. It highlights the “violations of legally agreed basic detention standards,” specifically the Flores settlement agreement. The practice of “prolonged, vaguely explained detention” that goes “beyond the general legal limit of 20 days for children” is a clear failure to uphold the rule of law and ensure access to justice. The description of the detention as a form of “emotional abuse” and being “fundamentally harmful to children” also relates to the goal of ending abuse and violence against children.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

   Based on the article’s content, several specific SDG targets can be identified:

   • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

     • Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being. The article’s mention of “distress and anxiety” leading a child to “start ‘throwing himself against the floor and getting bruises'” directly relates to the need to promote mental health and well-being.
     • Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services… The report of “inadequate medical care,” such as the delayed treatment for appendicitis and children with leukemia missing therapies, shows a clear failure to provide access to quality essential healthcare.

   • SDG 4: Quality Education

     • Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education… The provision of only “one hour daily” of school, consisting of “little real teaching,” is in direct opposition to this target of providing quality primary education.

   • SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

     • Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. The article’s description of “dirty” water and the fact that families must buy clean water indicates a lack of access to safe and affordable drinking water.
     • Target 6.2: By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all… The need for detainees to pay for basic hygiene products like “shampoo and body soap” points to a lack of adequate and equitable access to hygiene.

   • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

     • Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices… The “aggressive anti-immigration agenda” and the detention of families based on their migrant status can be seen as a discriminatory policy that creates inequalities of outcome.

   • SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

     • Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. The conditions described as “cruel and fundamentally harmful to children,” including “emotional abuse” and prolonged detention, constitute a form of abuse and violence against children.
     • Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all. The article explicitly mentions that the detention of children “goes beyond the general legal limit of 20 days,” which is a violation of the Flores settlement agreement, demonstrating a failure to promote the rule of law.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

   Yes, the article contains several direct and implied indicators that can be used to measure the lack of progress towards the identified targets:

   • Indicators for Health, Water, and Hygiene (SDGs 3 & 6)

     • Availability of safe drinking water: Measured by reports from detainees about water being “‘dirty'” and smelling “‘horrible’,” and the necessity to purchase bottled water.
     • Access to hygiene supplies: Measured by the policy requiring detainees to pay for essential items like shampoo and body soap.
     • Timeliness and quality of medical care: Indicated by specific accounts, such as the “six hours” a boy with “acute stomach pain” waited before receiving emergency care for appendicitis, and reports of children with chronic conditions “missing needed therapies.”
     • Prevalence of mental distress: Indicated by reports of “distress and anxiety” and incidents of “self-harm” among children.

   • Indicators for Education (SDG 4)

     • Duration of instruction: The article specifies this as “just one hour daily for each age group.”
     • Quality of educational content: Described as consisting mainly of “drawing, painting and worksheets, but little real teaching.”

   • Indicators for Justice and Rule of Law (SDG 16)

     • Length of child detention: The article provides specific data points, such as “children held for two or three months” and a family for “45 days,” which can be measured against the “legal limit of 20 days.”
     • Compliance with legal standards: The court filing itself, resulting from “routine site visits” by monitoring groups, serves as a formal indicator of non-compliance with the Flores settlement agreement.
     • Nature of confinement: Qualitative indicators include descriptions of a “‘prison-like environment'” and guards calling detainees “‘inmates,'” which measure the punitive nature of the civil detention.

4. SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

   SDGs	Targets	Indicators Identified in the Article
   SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being	3.4: Promote mental health and well-being. 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage and access to quality essential health-care services.	– Reports of children experiencing distress, anxiety, and engaging in self-harm. – Accounts of chronic sleep deprivation. – Specific cases of delayed emergency medical care (e.g., appendicitis). – Reports of children with chronic illnesses missing necessary therapies.
   SDG 4: Quality Education	4.1: Ensure all children complete free, equitable and quality primary education.	– Duration of schooling limited to “one hour daily.” – Quality of education described as “little real teaching,” focusing on worksheets and drawing.
   SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation	6.1: Achieve universal access to safe and affordable drinking water. 6.2: Achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all.	– Reports of water being “dirty” and smelling “horrible.” – Detainees having to purchase their own drinkable water. – Requirement for detainees to pay for basic hygiene products like shampoo and body soap.
   SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities	10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and eliminate discriminatory policies and practices.	– Implementation of an “aggressive anti-immigration agenda.” – Detaining families based on their migrant status in “prison-like” conditions.
   SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions	16.2: End abuse, violence and torture of children. 16.3: Promote the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice.	– Conditions described as “cruel and fundamentally harmful to children.” – Reports of “emotional abuse.” – Duration of detention for children exceeding the legal limit of 20 days (e.g., “two or three months”). – The court filing by monitoring groups alleging violations of the Flores settlement agreement.

Source: theguardian.com