Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA): Imprisoned asylum-seeking women have no idea where their children are

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said on Saturday that asylum-seeking women being held at a detention center near Seattle "have no idea" where their children were after they were separated by immigration officials at the U.S.–Mexico border.

At an event outside a Washington federal prison, SeaTac, Jayapal said she spent three hours in the facility to meet with each woman being held there.

“A huge number of them are mothers whose children were taken away from them when they were apprehended at the border or when they turned themselves in,” Jayapal said.

“They literally never had a chance to say goodbye to their children. Some of the children are as young as six, perhaps younger. These women have no idea, in the vast majority of these cases, where their children are,” she added.

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Jayapal noted that the more than 160 women at the detention center came from 16 countries. The vast majority of the women are seeking political asylum, the congresswoman said.

Her office is working to identify each of the women and provide legal assistance, according to The Seattle Times.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/391510-jayapal-women-held-at-detention-center-have-no-idea-where-their