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Feds vow to keep improving immigrant facility
By SUZANNE GAMBOA

Aug. 7, 2009, 7:39PM
WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreed Friday to continue improvements at a Central Texas detention center until all immigrant families held there have left.

The agreement reached with the American Civil Liberties Union continues requirements of the settlement of a 2007 lawsuit over conditions at T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center in Taylor.

The suit filed on behalf of 26 children, most whose families were seeking asylum in the U.S., led to such things as more education and outdoor time.

The lawsuit settlement was to expire at the end of the month. The ACLU and ICE signed the agreement and it was sent to the judge in the case, said Will Matthews, ACLU spokesman.

ICE spokeswoman Pat Riley said she could not comment on the agreement because it is pending litigation.

The agreement follows Thursday's announcement by ICE director John Morton of plans to transform the immigration detention system from a criminal to civil system. The first step was to immediately stop sending families to Hutto for detention.

ICE has 127 people at Hutto and has told the ACLU all families should be relocated by the end of this year, Matthews said.

Hutto may become a women's detention center. It was unclear whether any of the improvements will be maintained for them, although most of them were for the children.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 65005.html