1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Reverse the Department of Homeland Security's restrictions on video conferencing at the Dilley detention center and work to close all family detention facilities. The DHS claims that video calls from detained children "undermined security" and led to "false reporting of emergencies." This is a transparent attempt to hide conditions inside these facilities from public view. When 9-year-old Deiver Henao told Ms. Rachel "I don't want to be here anymore. Nothing is good here. I want to leave and go to the spelling bee," Americans saw the reality of what we're doing to children. That's not a security threat. That's accountability. ProPublica documented serious health concerns and mistreatment at Dilley based on interviews with at least six children. Cases like 5-year-old Liam Ramos and 2-month-old Juan Nicolás have drawn national attention for good reason. Restricting video access doesn't solve problems at these facilities. It just makes it easier to ignore them. Family detention doesn't make us safer. It traumatizes children who have committed no crime. These facilities should be shut down entirely, and families should be released with case management support while their cases are processed. Blocking video calls is a step in exactly the wrong direction.