Edwin Larios Munoz, 15 Grand Rapids, Michigan

After my father died when I was 4, my mother abandoned me. I ended up living with a cousin. For over seven years, from when I was 7 to when I was 13, my cousin forced me to work on the streets and give him the money. When I didn't earn enough money, he punished me, beating me with a noose, car tools and other objects, leaving scars on my ... knees, legs and arms. I did not report it to the authorities because my cousin threatened to throw me out onto the street. I ... did not think the police would protect a child like me.

I had no other choice but to look for safety, and a real family, in the United States. I had heard wonderful things about the United States and how children were better treated here.

After crossing the border by San Ysidro, Calif, however, my problems with immigration began. On August 19, 2000, the U.S. Border Patrol officers in green uniform arrested me and took me away in handcuffs. They held me four days locked up and alone in a cell. They gave me very little and bad food and did not let me outdoors. They did not explain anything to me. I felt very sick to my stomach and head because of the food and because I was locked up all day.

I was then taken in shackles to South West Key, a place in San Diego for immigrant children paid for by INS. I never saw a counselor or social worker to talk about my problems in Honduras. The other boys from other countries there picked on me because I was smaller and from Honduras. They did not tell the boys to stop. After two weeks, an immigration officer ... took me away in shackles but did not explain where and why. I was brought to San Diego Juvenile Hall, a jail for juvenile criminals.

This was the worst place I have ever been in life. They then locked me in a cell by myself without windows. They told me that they had to isolate me because I looked very young. I spent three entire days in the cell, sad and afraid.

I spent around six months in this jail. I was locked in the cell around 18 hours a day. We were only allowed out for a few hours a day for classes. Every time we walked we had to walk silently, with our hands crossed to avoid punishment.

The officers did not know why I or other children picked up by INS were being held there. They treated us the same as the others, as criminals. They were mean and aggressive and used a lot of bad words. They sometimes hit me with their sticks and shoved me and other boys when they thought that we were not following their orders.

I lost weight and was usually sick at this jail since I could not eat the horrible food, and the jail constantly smelled like urine. I had nightmares at the jail that the guards and other boys were going to kill me. I cried a lot in the cell wondering why everything was turning out so bad for me.

After around six weeks in detention, I was taken in hand and leg shackles to the immigration court. I was scared and afraid that I would be deported. The judge asked me what I wanted to do in my case and I told him I needed to find a family to live with in the United States

Several weeks later, I returned to court, again in shackles. There was a nice, free lawyer for me, Manuel Sanchez, who was willing to represent me. Together, we prepared my case for asylum and the judge granted me asylum in January 2001.

It was hard to prepare my case in the jail. I could not call [my lawyer] for free, and every time he visited, they made me take off all my clothes to search my body.

After winning my asylum, I was brought back to the jail again in shackles. I stayed in the jail another month and a half. Finally, they arranged for me to go ... to a foster family in Michigan. I was transported out again in shackles. I asked the INS officer why do I need shackles. He told me to prevent my escape. Why would I want to escape if I won my asylum? "Your asylum," he said, "that's just a piece of paper we can rip up, put you in jail and send you back to your country."

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children provided Edwin's testimony to Children's PressLine. To learn more about the issue and current legislation from Amnesty International, visit www.cplmedia.org/detained.

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