00:00We are here today to say this simple message. Shut it down. Shut it down. Shut down the private
00:09for-profit detention centers. Stop the incarceration of 65,000 immigrants in these
00:17for-profit facilities every single night at enormous cost to taxpayers and enormous cruelty
00:23to detainees. Stop treating people like animals with rotting food, dirty and insufficient water,
00:32and terrible medical care. We demand justice and accountability for all of this, and we will
00:39shut it down. That is exactly what my bill, Dignity for Detained Immigrants, does. It shuts down all
00:48private for-profit prisons. It ends the use of mandatory detention. It ends family detention,
00:56and it ends the detention of pregnant and vulnerable people. It finally puts dignity,
01:02decency, and humanity first. Alone in a room with just a toilet. I couldn't call anyone
01:12and got no attention until I started screaming. At some place, we were stripped, searched.
01:22We ate horrible food, and it made us sick. My name is Ricardo Hernandez Navarrete.
01:30I want to thank Senator Durbin for allowing me to share my story. I am 18 years old,
01:41and I just graduated from my high school in Chicago. Which one? Mother, high school. Mother.
01:50I was in ice detention for two months and ten days. On March 17, my mother and I were at
01:59our ice
02:01check-in appointment. One day, I was senior in my high school, playing soccer, hanging out with my
02:10friends and family. The next day, I was in detention. My mother and I were separated in two months.
02:18I was transferred to six different places. I was in those places for days or weeks.
02:26I never knew how long it would be. They moved me around so much, telling me so many times to
02:35sign
02:36deportation papers. In Louisiana, they keep me in solitary for two days for no reason.
02:47I was alone in a room with just a toilet. I couldn't call anyone and got no attention until I
02:57started to scream.
02:59At some place, we were stripped, searched. We eat horrible food, and it made us sick.
03:08They never let us go outside. I asked a word at the facility in Louisiana.
03:16Louisiana. The name is Lasalle. Why they were going to move me. And she got upset.
03:25She spoke me along and told me that if I didn't do what she said, she would paper spray me.
03:35And one point, I saw a man get punched, and he was hurt and bleeding a lot.
03:42The whole time, I was scared for my mom, my brother at home, and myself.
03:49They didn't tell me why I was there or how long I was going to be there.
03:54It was hard to be separated from my mom. I couldn't talk with her, and I didn't know what
04:03she was feeling in detention. I took me for my community, my passion, and my life.
04:11Soccer. Soccer is the best thing in my life, and when I feel the most happy.
04:20So, so many people that know me wrote letters to the Dutch telling them that I'm a good person
04:28and hard-working kid. God willing, two days before my high school graduation, I was released
04:38since I come out to the United States. I worked really hard in high school.
04:44I worked all my hard work had gone to waste. I am grateful for their support and for never giving
04:53up on me.
04:55My family is the most important thing in my life, and I thank God for bringing us back together.
05:04My release is not easy. I am forced to wear my GPS on my wrist. It is embarrassing for me,
05:13and in fact,
05:15it affects my daily activities, including play soccer. I'm worried it will hurt other people in the field.
05:26I have to take a picture of myself every day, 9 to 11 a.m. on the watch.
05:35I always been watched, and that is hard. I still think of my older people in detention, fathers,
05:46sons, young people, my friends. They too should be free. No one should ever go through this,
05:54especially someone my age. Thank you Senators for listening to my story.
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