Va Governor Orders Probe Into Alleged Immigrant Abuse At Facility

As the controversy over the treatment of immigrant families intensifies, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered a stated investigation into allegations that immigrant teens are being beaten and tortured at a Virginia detention facility.

The Associated Press reports state officials will investigate claims that children were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods at an immigration detention facility in the state -- including allegations that the children were sometimes left naked and shivering in concrete cells.

Northam announced the probe just a few hours after an Associated Press report on the allegations, which focused on the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center in Staunton.

"I share many Virginians' concerns about disturbing allegations of abuse at Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center," Northam tweeted. "While the locally-operated center is subject to state oversight, the immigrants being housed there are subject to the oversight of the US Office of Refugee Resettlement.

"However, this facility is in our Commonwealth," he added. "So I have asked @VAPSHS & the Department of Juvenile Justice to investigate these claims & report back to me about any steps that may be necessary at the state or federal level to ensure the safety of every child being held there."

The AP report cites alarming abuses of immigrants as reported by the victims themselves.

“Whenever they used to restrain me and put me in the chair, they would handcuff me,” said a Honduran immigrant who was quoted in the AP report. “Strapped me down all the way, from your feet all the way to your chest, you couldn’t really move. ... They have total control over you. They also put a bag over your head. It has little holes; you can see through it. But you feel suffocated with the bag on.”

Some children are cited in a federal civil rights lawsuit that includes sworn statements from Latino youths who had been imprisoned at the facility for years.

Lawyers for the detention facility have denied the allegations in court filings, AP reports.

The incidents span from 2015 to 2018, which means they happened during both the Trump administration and the Obama administration.

The children had been accused of belonging to violent gangs like MS-13, but a manager at the facility said in a congressional hearing that the children did not appear to be gang members and were more likely suffering from trauma that happened in their home countries.

These children were unaccompanied when they crossed the border, meaning they are not related to the recent controversy about separating immigrant families.

In addition to Northam, both of Virginia's senators -- Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner -- promised to investigate conditions at the facility. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican who represents the district where the facility is located, said the abuse allegations were "alarming" and merit and investigation, according to the report.

Image of Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center via Google Maps