Advocates Pressure Gov. Wolf To Shut Down Berks Residential Center
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Immigration advocates are putting pressure on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf demanding that he shut down the Berks County Residential Center.
The facility houses undocumented mothers and children awaiting federal immigration hearings.
It's been a year since the Wolf Administration revoked the license for the Berks County Residential Center.
For years prior, reports detailed poor conditions for children, even the alleged rape of a woman detainee; advocates argued the center- leased by the US government was illegal because it imprisoned families indefinitely.
"There are now multiple families that have been there for two years, there are other families that have been there for months," said Sundrop Carter of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition.
She runs the Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, which lobbied the Governor this week.
His administration lost the United States appeal of the license revocation, but is seeking another review.
In the meantime, it will monitor the facility while keeping it open.
Advocates say its a cop out.
"They have the ability to say the conditions of at this center are so egregious that we can close the center during the appeals process," said Carter.
A spokesman for Wolf says- the Governor believes the facility should no longer detain families.
