Report reveals migrant ‘time bomb’
In one photo, one of 88 men in a cell meant for 41 presses a piece of cardboard against the window, with the word ‘‘Help’’. In another, a man lowers his head and clasps his hands as if in prayer. In a third, a woman wearing a surgical mask presses both hands against the glass.
The images were released yesterday by US government auditors who visited facilities in South Texas where migrant adults and children who crossed the nearby border with Mexico are processed and detained.
As public outrage grows over the conditions in which thousands of people – some no more than a few months old – are being held by the US government, the report offers new cause for alarm. It quotes one senior government manager as calling the situation ‘‘a ticking time bomb’’.
‘‘When detainees observed us, they banged on the cell windows, shouted, pressed notes to the window with their time in custody, and gestured to evidence of their time in custody,’’ the report says.
An autopsy report also released yesterday confirmed that Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, a 2-year-old Guatemalan child who died in April after being detained, had multiple intestinal and respiratory infectious diseases.
Auditors from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) inspectorgeneral visited five facilities and two ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley, where more people cross the US-Mexico border illegally than any other section.
Around 8000 people were detained by US Customs and Border Protection there in early June, when the auditors visited. Around 7500 are detained there now.
The Border Patrol made a total of 132,887 apprehensions in May, including 84,542 adults and children travelling together.
With long-term facilities for adults and children at capacity, US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it has to hold people in unsuitable Border Patrol facilities for much longer than the 72 hours normally allowed by law.
In the report, DHS blames ‘‘an acute and worsening crisis’’, and says it has tried to expand detention capacity and improve the conditions under which migrant families are held.
Immigrant advocates blame the Trump administration for refusing to promptly release families, children and people seeking asylum, leading to increased numbers of people detained.
The report details several potential violations of federal law or Border Patrol standards.
Some adults were only receiving bologna sandwiches, causing constipation and in some cases requiring medical attention. In one photo, women and children appeared to be sleeping on the ground under blankets. Many adults hadn’t showered, despite having been held for as long as a month. Some were being given wet wipes to clean themselves.