DHS secretary defends shelter conditions.
McAleenan touts progress, sees reports as unsubstantiated
WASHINGTON – Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan on Sunday defended conditions at U.S. Border Patrol stations following reports of crowded and unsanitary conditions that have heightened debate about President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, a signature issue for his reelection campaign.
“It’s an extraordinarily challenging situation,” McAleenan told ABC’s “This Week.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog provided new details recently about the overcrowding in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. The report said children at three facilities had no access to showers and that some children under age 7 had been held in jammed centers for more than two weeks. Some cells were so cramped that adults were forced to stand for days on end.
Government inspectors described an increasingly dangerous situation both for migrants and agents as a “ticking time bomb,” in the words of one facility manager.
In tweets Sunday afternoon, Trump went further than McAleenan in defending his administration’s response, accusing the news media of “phony and exaggerated accounts” but without providing evidence.
“Border Patrol, and others in Law Ena forcement, have been doing a great job. We said there was a Crisis – the Fake News & the Dems said it was ‘manufactured,’ ” Trump wrote. Federal detention centers “are crowded (which we ... brought up, not them) because the Dems won’t change the Loopholes and Asylum. Big Media Con Job!”
McAleenan said that since the first of the year, 200 medical providers have been added to facilities, including personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Public Health Service Commission Corps.
“We have pediatricians in border patrol stations for the first time in history trying to help address conditions where children are coming across 300 a day in ... April and May,” McAleenan said.
McAleenan disputed news reports, including those by The Associated Press, of especially troubling conditions at a border station in Clint, Texas, where stench was coming from children’s clothing and some detainees were suffering from scabies and chickenpox.
“There’s adequate food and water,” he said. “The facility’s cleaned every day, because I know what our standards are and I know they’re being followed because we have tremendous levels of oversight. Five levels of oversight.
“Inadequate food, inadequate water and unclean cells. None of those have been substantiated.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is stunned when administration officials say that reports on the conditions are unsubstantiated.
“I’m just like, ‘What world are they living in?’ ” Merkley said, citing government and news reports. “From every direction you see that the children are being treated in a horrific manner.”