Chicago Activist Discovers Hispanic Youth Harshly “Treated” at Indiana Detention Center

“A Chicago-area doctor and activist has discovered a youth treatment facility in Indiana where ten Hispanic boys were placed under harsh conditions after a violent racially-tinged incident on May 7, 2007.

The South West Indiana Youth Facility (SWIYF), a youth detention facility in Vincennes, Indiana, about 130 miles southwest of Indianapolis, describes itself on its website as a center which offers “residential treatment for 148 males and female youth, ages 9-21, in gender specific housing units and activities.” SWIYF also serves to house undocumented immigrant youth from Latin America who are placed there precisely because they’re undocumented.

Nevertheless, a group of ten Hispanic youth at SWIYF — undocumented immigrant boys from Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras, ages 13 through 17 — were beaten violently by a team of SWAT agents, placed in lockdown conditions, and held in solitary confinement for two weeks, all in reaction to an incident at SWIYF where the Hispanic boys were called a racist name.”

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