Immigration advocates in San Antonio, Texas celebrated on Tuesday after the city's zoning commission blocked an embattled private prison company's bid to open at least one new detention center for migrant children.
Based in Arizona, VisionQuest has long faced allegations of mistreatment of detained children, with some allegations dating back to the 1980s.Those commissioners who voted the right way have denied Vision Quest the ability to open a for-profit childrenâs detention center in the city.In 1984, San Diego County in California suspended referrals to VisionQuest for a year after a young person died at one of its facilities, according to a previous report from NBC Philadelphia.
Then, in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had documented cases of physical and mental abuse at a site operated by the company in Franklin, Pennsylvania, with young people saying workers had pulled their hair, choked them and slammed them into walls.Towards the end of 2017, VisionQuest was also forced to permanently close one of its facilities in Philadelphia after facing allegations of mistreatment of children.
"Their problems all across the country, which include multiple deaths of children in their care, complaints of child abuse, and other appalling violations, have been well documented," Gym said, according to NBC Philadelphia.
Build the wall!
Shut them down S. A.
Thank you San Antonio!