It just seems like Whitey against everyone else................same basic crap that has been going on forever..................................i am leaving this country forever and never coming back.......this place is hypocritical.....it is obvious...........
Lack of soap, filthy onesies and too few beds have created a 'health crisis' at border detention facilities, monitors warn
(CNN)A team of doctors, lawyers and advocates are warning of what they say are major health and hygiene problems at several US Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas.
"There
was just a pervasive health crisis," said attorney Toby Gialluca,
describing what she said were conditions at the Ursula Processing Center
in McAllen, Texas. "Virtually everyone we saw was ill."
Clara
Long, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, described what she
said were "unconscionable conditions" at a Border Patrol station in
Clint, Texas, where unaccompanied minors were being held.
"The
kids had colds and were sick and said they didn't have access to soap
to wash their hands. It was an alcohol-based cleanser. Some kids who
were detained for 2-3 weeks had only one or two opportunities to shower.
One said they hadn't showered in three weeks," she said. "Hygiene and
living conditions like this creates a risk of spreading infectious
disease. It makes me very concerned about the public health emergency."
The allegations, first reported by The Associated Press,
come weeks after a report from the Department of Homeland Security's
inspector general found "dangerous overcrowding" and unsanitary
conditions at another El Paso, Texas, Border Patrol facility.
Gialluca
and Long said they didn't have a chance to see the areas where migrants
were being held when they visited the facilities, but were part of a
team of 10 doctors, lawyers and advocates that interviewed detainees at
three Texas facilities this week. CNN has not independently verified the
conditions the team is reporting.
The
visits were negotiated with CBP because the team is monitoring
government compliance with the Flores settlement, a 1997 agreement that
requires the government to release children from immigration detention
without unnecessary delay to their parents, other adult relatives or
licensed programs.
The Trump administration has been pushing to end the settlement,
arguing the restrictions get in the way of immigration enforcement. The
administration has also said it's been overwhelmed by a humanitarian
and security crisis at the southern border, and the White House is
requesting $4.5 billion in emergency funding to deal with it.
CBP responded to the allegations Friday, saying the agency urgently needs funding.
"US
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) leverages our limited resources to
provide the best care possible to those in our custody, especially
children," the statement said. "As DHS and CBP leadership have noted
numerous times, our short-term holding facilities were not designed to
hold vulnerable populations and we urgently need additional humanitarian
funding to manage this crisis."
In
the statement, CBP said it works with the Department of Health and
Human Services to move unaccompanied children to their custody as soon
as possible.
"All allegations of
civil rights abuses or mistreatment in CBP detention are taken seriously
and investigated to the fullest extent possible," CBP said.
Thursday,
in response to the allegations, a CBP official with intimate knowledge
of the stations in El Paso told CNN "it's all about perspective."
Conditions have improved at the facilities, the official said.
"At
the beginning, yes, it was harsh. A year ago it was bad. Things are
better than they were three months ago when kids were sleeping on the
floor," the official said. "The answer here from the higher-ups seems to
be to just add more tents and that's going to take care of the problem.
It's not."
The official said migrants are getting three meals a day at the facilities.
"There is no variation in the meals," the official said, "but they are being fed and given access to medical care."
But
advocates say conditions in the facilities are dangerous. Among the
conditions the team says were reported by detainees during their recent
visits:
• Children held up to 26 days in detention - Long said she spoke with children who'd been held at the facility for nearly a month.
"A lot of the kids had been held for 21 days," she said. This would be a violation of a court settlement that says children can be held in immigrant detention for a maximum of 20 days.
• Children taking care of children -
"I did talk to kids who were taking care of very tender age children
themselves. There doesn't appear to be child care there," Long said,
describing the Clint facility. "They're left to fend for themselves.
Older kids are taking care of the babies."
• Shortage of beds
- "The kids said they were being held in rooms with windows toward the
interior, but no windows to look out," Long said. "In some rooms, there
are beds, but not enough for all the kids. Many are sleeping on the
floor, some with mattresses, some without."
• Inadequate clothing - Gialluca
said she saw children "clad only in a diaper and a tiny T-shirt or a
filthy onesie." "They didn't have socks or shoes, nowhere near
appropriate for the conditions that they were in," she said.
Rep.
Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district is near the Clint facility,
said she's concerned about the allegations and reached out to CBP's
leaders for an explanation as soon as she heard them.
"If
the allegations being made are true, these are human rights abuses. ...
Our government's abuse of immigrant children is abhorrent and should be
a wake-up call to our nation," she said. "These conditions are also
horrific for the agents who have been placed in this situation by the
administration."
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Veronica Escobar represents a district near the Clint facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment