Teenagers in the Shenandoah Center wait an average of 806 days for their immigration hearing. Though not convicted of any crime, authorities detain them for up to three years in the facility.
Claims of Abuse
Six Latino teens signed statements saying that the Shenandoah staff physically abused them, humiliated them, and neglected them. They say that the staff beat them and kept them in solitary confinement for unreasonable amount of times. They also say the guards left them naked and cold in their cells.
Some of the teens say the guards made them remove their clothes and then strapped them to a chair with paper bags over their heads. One teen from Honduras said that the bag had holes in it but still felt as if the guards were suffocating him.
A child specialist who used to work for the facility said that she saw teenage immigrants there with bruises and broken bones.
Besides physical abuse, the teens say that the staff members taunt them and call them names using racial slurs.
Lawyers for the Shenandoah facility deny all claims of abuse.
