From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

One detainee said his fears of being perceived and treated as a criminalwere reinforced when he witnessed an officer telling another asylumseeker: “You have no rights. See the orange clothes you’re wearing? Thoseare for criminals with no rights.”The two detention centers in the New York City area, (Elizabeth andWackenhut) are windowless, converted warehouses near Newark and JFKairports. The isolation and disconnect from the outside world is chilling.One detainee described her sense of confinement as follows:I miss the fresh air, light and outside activity. We are so isolated, and wesee no fresh air or light. When the priest visited for Palm Sunday withpalms, we all ran to get a piece of green vegetation. It was the first naturalthing we saw in months.Others complain of constant noise.All day long it’s very noisy from the TV – from 5 a.m. to 12 midnight.All day long and night. Too small room for too many people – noise,noise, noise. You have no escape from the noise.One detainee, who admitted that when he was initially detained, “I wasrelieved to be away from my country’s troubles,” nevertheless attributed“100%” of his trauma symptoms and a substantial amount of his anxietysymptoms to detention and the degrading treatment. He explained “Theytreat us like animals. Being contained like an animal is bad for you.”Many detainees expressed shock in reaction to this treatment. A freedasylee said in retrospect:Most of those people in detention are there fleeing horrors and persecutionto come to America for liberty, and then you are treated like this indetention and you ask ‘why did I come here?’Detention in County JailsThe INS frequently incarcerates asylum seekers in county jails, eventhough this contravenes international standards (see Legal Standardschapter). In county jails, asylum seekers are often held in the same cellswith convicted criminals, including violent offenders. The York Countyprison does have a separate unit for housing asylum seekers. Nevertheless,asylum seekers may still be housed with the general population at the discretionof the facility. These jails subject asylum seekers to the same policiesas the general inmate population.Many detainees reported increased fear at county jails. One detainedasylum seeker who had fled his country of origin because his life was indanger as a result of his peaceful pro-democracy activities described thefollowing after being transferred from an INS detention center to acounty jail:TREATMENT IN DETENTION FACILITIES 109