Children Inside Texas Detention Centers Describe Squalid Conditions
On Wednesday, lawyers who represent the interests of children in U.S. immigration custody filed a temporary restraining order after dozens of children and at least two doctors reported unsafe and unhygienic conditions at four Texas Customs and Border Patrol facilities. The declarations, 60 total, were taken by volunteer attorneys during welfare visits at Texas Customs and Border Patrol facilities Ursula, Clint, Westlaco, and Santa Teresa last week and the week prior. The lawyers are entitled to monitor the conditions in which children are held under the terms of a 1997 settlement with the government known as the Flores agreement, which guarantees basic rights to children detained at the border.
“We want an immediate inspection of all CBP facilities by a public health expert with the authority to mandate changes. We want immediate access to the facilities, by independent medical professionals who can assess the emergency medical needs of the children and triage appropriately. And we want HHS to expedite reuniting children at CBP facilities with their parents and family members,” Leecia Welch, a lawyer with the National Center for Youth Law, told Rolling Stone. “We are concerned that without this immediate relief, more children will die in CBP custody.”
These are the conditions inside those facilities, as described by the children in sworn declarations submitted with the complaint.
Girl, age 15
“I started taking care of [name redacted, age five] in the Ice Box after they separated her from her father. I did not know either of them before that. She was very upset. The workers did nothing to try to comfort her. I tried to comfort her and she has been with me ever since. [Redacted] sleeps on a mat with me on the concrete floor. We spend all day every day in that room. There are no activities, only crying.”
Girl, age 17
“Three days ago my baby soiled his clothes. I had no place to wash the clothes so I could not put them back on my baby because when he went to the bathroom his poop came out of his diaper and all over his clothing. Since then, my baby of only three months has only been wearing a small little jacket made of t-shirt material. I have nothing else for my son to wear…. I have been told they do not have any clothes here at this place. I just want my baby to be warm enough. I am having to make sure I carry my baby super close to me to keep his little body warm.”
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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/texas-border-children-parent-separation-migrant-detention-centers-853055/
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