Sen. Merkley's Visit Marks an Unveiling of the Secrecy

   A U.S. senator's efforts to visit an immigrant processing center in Texas the past weekend revealed the American government is secretive about its treatment of those coming from other countries. 
   And, not only secretive, but abusive. The practice of separating families quickly drew charges the United States inhumanely treats families attempting to immigrate without federal authorization. 
  "I was barred entry," Sen. Jeff Merkley said of his attempt to visit a detention center in Brownsville, Texas. The windows of the center, operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, were blacked out, covered up so they could not be seen through. 
  "They do not want members of Congress or the public to know what's going on," Merkley said Monday in a telephone interview with CNN.
  That the government is shielding its treatment of immigrants from the public is drawing a backlash. And, that even members of Congress are not allowed entrance only heightens the concern for what might be going on in secrecy. 
   While the Trump Administration has vastly ramped up concern by separating children from their parents upon arrival at the border, secrecy in the immigration system is hardly new.
   Immigration courts commonly are gated. The gates might be open, but when a person tries to actually enter the buildings, he or she is greeted by security and turned away unless able to cite specific business to be conducted. No public docket of the proceedings is available, nor are transcripts of the proceedings made available to the public. Often, the hearings, themselves, are closed to the public.
  Immigration courts commonly are not well marked with signage identifying them as such -- as federal immigration courts. Instead, the buildings might be marked by little more than their street numbers in lettering on the buildings. 
   Sen. Merkley's attempted visit to the immigrant processing center brings attention to the fact there is so much secrecy. That the federal government shields not only the American public from what is going on, but even bars Congress members from an inside view is raising questions as to why the secrecy. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez tweeted that he, also, has been barred from entering an immigration detention facility.
  And, there is the cry that what is happening is inhumane. "Separating immigrant children from their parents is inhumane and should end," editorialized the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas. Others have also joined in the cry that the practice is inhumane. 

(Note: Blog tweaked 6/7/18)