Immigrant Detainees Beaten, Lawsuit Claims

(CBS) CBS News Investigative Producer Laura Strickler wrote this for cbsnews.com.

Immigrant Detainees Beaten, Lawsuit Claims
Private Contractor Cited for Safety Problems in the Past

A new lawsuit filed against a private contractor who runs an immigrant child detention center claims nine teenagers were beaten and abused by employees who work for Cornell Companies. The company has been cited by immigration officials for safety problems in the past.

The Hector Garza facility in San Antonio handles young immigrant “males with serious behavioral and psychological impairments”. “I think the general American has no idea these kids even exist,” said Susan Watson, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorney for the nine plaintiffs, “When our own government treats them this way, they deserve their day in court,” she said. The plaintiffs claim they notified authorities of multiple beatings but no action was taken.

One of the plaintiffs is described in court documents as a 16-year-old Honduran male identified as C.C. Arriving at the border alone, C.C. was put into custody for a week by Border Patrol agents.

He was later transferred to the Hector Garza Center, where court filings claim a teacher “severely battered C.C. punching and kicking him, then beating him with a chair as he lay on the floor.”

Lawsuit filings claim C.C. conveyed this to the authorities but nothing was done. A week later, court documents indicate C.C. came to the defense of another child who was being beaten. C.C. was hit again, this time losing consciousness and ended up in the hospital, according to the civil complaint.

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