Open letter to Governor Ayotte
Dear Governor Ayotte,
The embarrassment of a state department failing to inform you of the federal government’s plans to purchase a warehouse in Merrimack is nothing compared to the horror and shame we will all face if these plans for a detention center are allowed to proceed.
It is clearer and clearer that these centers are inhumane. The running of these centers has been turned over to private entities who are most interested in their own profit.
Here are a few examples to keep in mind as this plan progresses:
A medical examiner in Texas found that there were three deaths at the Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss Army Base in Texas. This privately-run camp has violated at least 60 federal standards for detention.
In addition, government officials are calling for these camps to be more like Amazon Prime, but with human beings.
It’s been widely reported that detainees cannot get essential medications or medical treatment. Parents are separated from their children, people are crammed into cells with one toilet, no bedding and substandard or little food.
As citizens of New Hampshire, regardless of political party or position on immigration, we must stand against these camps that ignore basic humanity and basic human needs. We must do everything in our power (and more) to stop this camp. The secrecy at the beginning of this process is adequate warning of what is to come.