Beaten and Bound: Illegal Immigrant Children in Detention Centers Detail Abuse
Virginia lawmakers are seeking answers about several juvenile detention centers where immigrant children say they were bound, beaten and sent to languish in solitary confinement.
As part of a class action lawsuit, six Latino teenagers made sworn statements detailing severe abuse they endured over the past three years, including being beaten while handcuffed and left nude, shivering in concrete cells.
Some children, as young as 14 years old, said guards stripped them naked and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads as a form of punishment.
The Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center is designed to house immigrants charged with committing serious crimes. Children housed there, between the ages of 12 and 17, are facing deportation proceedings or awaiting decisions on asylum claims.