The T. Don Hutto Detention Center (Hutto) is an immigration detention center Taylor, Texas that holds nearly five hundred female detainees. The vast majority of these detained women are asylum seekers who have fled persecution or torture in their home countries, and have asked the United States for refuge.
The women detained at Hutto, and their conditions of confinement, have been the subject of much media coverage, and litigation by other organizations in recent years. However Hutto detains up to 500 women asylum seekers who remain generally unaware of the rights and responsibilities they have in the United States and Texas.
The Immigrant Women Education & Assistance Program (IWEAP) 
American Gateways is a nonprofit organization based in Austin that provides free and low cost legal services and education to refugees, asylum seekers and immigrant victims of violence. American Gateways is a champion for immigrants that works to leverage key resources in support of the human rights of immigrants and to dispel myths and misconceptions about immigration and immigrants.
For the past two years, American Gateways has provided legal education and representation to women detained at the Hutto center. This work has been funded by a prestigious Equal Justice Works fellowship underwritten by the international law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP. Akin Gump added an additional $30,000 to fund the work for six months that began in September 2011.
American Gateways provides Know Your Rights & Responsibilites presentations to the women detained at Hutto. The presentation covers the immigration process and available remedies as these women seek asylum and legal residency in the United States. American Gateways continues to develop appropriate informational brochures and pro se materials for detainees to supplement the presentations.
The detained women at Hutto are almost entirely indigent and do not have the financial resources to seek private legal advice and many find themselves without even basic immigration. So, in addition to rights presentations and individual representation, American Gateways organizes and trains an extensive panel of pro-bono attorneys to assist in representing the detained women at Hutto.
Many women suffered psychological harm related to the trauma caused by war, strife and abuse in their home country, and their conditions typically worsen during detention. Hutto detainees often suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, depression, and a general lack of hope. Most detained women in Hutto are confused by our nation’s complicated immigration process, and need someone to explain it to them.
No other program exists to offer the detainees at Hutto know-your-rights presentations. Detainees do not understand the basics of immigration law, the methods of relief available to them, or why they have been detained. They do not know how to fill out bond applications, asylum applications, or what to say during a credible fear interview.
The women detained at Hutto are generally women who have presented themselves at the American border, stated that they seek asylum in the United States because of abuse and oppression at home, and are promptly detained and shipped to Hutto to wait—sometimes for months or years in barely-humane conditions—for their case to be decided.
Taking Action - How You Can Help
Make A Donation - Our most urgent need is funding. Given the geopolitical confilcts happening across the globe, we expect the number of immigrants seeking asylum to continue to increase. It is heartbreaking to turn away a new immigrant because we lack the financial and staffing resources necessary to help. Please make a generous gift today and support the Hutto project.
Be A Pro Bono - If you are an attorney interested in providing pro bono legal services for American Gateways' clients at Hutto, please click here.
Volunteer - Join the American Gateways team and change somebody's life, please click here.
Thank you for taking action to help assure that the women detainees at Hutto have access to legal services and legal education.
