‘They’re Treating Them Like Animals’: 100 Migrant Children Moved Back To Facility That Sparked Reports Of Inhumane Treatment
A Border Patrol spokesman said the accusations of inhumane conditions is being investigated, but that the agency was using the controversial Clint station as a “consolidated” holding facility “to streamline transfer to HHS and to accommodate separate holding areas based on age and gender.” Meanwhile, amid the turmoil, Mark Morgan, who President Donald Trump installed as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in early June, will take over as acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, replacing John Sanders.
The New York Times:
Migrant Children Moved Back To Troubled Texas Border Facility
At the squat, sand-colored concrete border station in Texas that has become the center of debate over President Trump’s immigration policies, a chaotic shuffle of migrant children continued on Tuesday as more than 100 were moved back into a facility that days earlier had been emptied in the midst of criticism that young detainees there were hungry, crying and unwashed. The transfer came just days after 249 children originally housed at the station in Clint, Tex., had been moved to other facilities to relieve overcrowding. (Rubio and Dickerson, 6/25)
The Washington Post:
U.S. Returns 100 Migrant Children To Overcrowded Border Facility As HHS Says It Is Out Of Space
Immigration and health authorities have scrambled in recent days to move hundreds of migrant children out of one Border Patrol station in Clint, Tex., after lawyers who visited the facility described scenes of sick and dirty children without their parents, and inconsolable toddlers in the care of other children. The alleged conditions raised the specter that masses of migrant children — some still in infancy — who had arrived unaccompanied or been separated from their relatives after crossing the border are being exposed to additional undue trauma as they spend days or weeks in ill-equipped Border Patrol stations, the lawyers said. (Hausiohner, 6/25)
Texas Tribune:
Immigrant Children Returned To Beleaguered West Texas Facility
Customs and Border Protection said in a written statement that the Border Patrol had activated contingency plans to manage the number of unaccompanied children in custody by using additional facilities in the El Paso Sector. "Due to the transfer of a large number of these children to the Department of Health and Human Services in the past few days, El Paso Sector is currently resuming use of the Clint Station as the consolidated UAC holding facility to streamline transfer to HHS and accommodate separate holding areas based on age and gender," the statement said. "CBP continues to utilize all available resources to prioritize and care for children in our custody and facilitate their expeditious transfer to HHS custody." (Aguilar, 6/25)
NBC News:
Border Patrol Moves 100 Children To 'Appalling' Texas Facility
The agency official said the allegations of inadequate food and sanitation are being "taken seriously" and have been referred to the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP. "I personally don’t believe the allegations," the official added. Federal law requires unaccompanied or separated migrant children be transferred to HHS custody within 72 hours, though many children at the facility had been there for weeks, according to the lawyers who visited the site. The children remain under CBP custody until they can be placed with HHS. (Gutierrez and Kaplan, 6/25)
Politico:
‘Kids Are Really Suffering’ As Migrant Surge Overwhelms Health Department
Hundreds of migrant children being transferred from squalid, overcrowded Border Patrol detention centers are heading into the custody of a federal refugee agency that’s already struggling to feed and care for tens of thousands of minors. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is so swamped with new arrivals that it is burning through cash to house children in military bases around the country, including one in Oklahoma that interned Japanese-Americans during World War II. On Tuesday, the agency even had to send 100 children back to a much-criticized Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, saying it lacks the room to take them. (Rayasam and Diamond, 6/25)
The Washington Post:
Former Captives Contrast Conditions With U.S. Treatment Of Child Migrants
American journalist Michael Scott Moore, abducted in 2012 while reporting in Somalia, watched Fabian argue that minimal necessities, like toiletries and sleeping conditions, were not essential to meet minimum “safe and sanitary” standards. “That was — let’s say — below my experience in Somalia,” he told The Washington Post Tuesday of his more than two years in captivity. “The conditions were about as miserable as you could imagine,” he said, describing a barren and concrete prison house. Often there was no electricity, he said, “but we had certain minimum things that kept it from being completely wretched.” (Paul, 6/25)
The New York Times:
‘A Constant Game Of Musical Chairs’ Amid Another Homeland Security Shake-Up
Turmoil intensified on Tuesday inside the agency responsible for securing the country’s borders as a top official was replaced by an immigration hard-liner and former Fox News contributor who last week pushed for nationwide raids to deport undocumented families. That hard-liner, Mark Morgan, will take over as the head of Customs and Border Protection, administration officials said Tuesday. (Kanno-Youngs and Haberman, 6/25)
The Washington Post:
Mark Morgan To Replace John Sanders As Border Chief As DHS Shake-Up Continues
Immigration hard-liners in recent days have been pushing Trump to remove acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan at the moment when the policies McAleenan has advanced — including a deal with Mexico for an unprecedented immigration crackdown there — are beginning to yield results. U.S. authorities detained more than 144,000 migrants last month along the Mexico border, the highest level since 2006, but preliminary reports indicate fewer have been crossing in recent weeks and others are being turned back by Mexican military forces. (Miroff and Dawsey, 6/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Shakeup At Homeland Security As Migrant Children Are Moved Back To Troubled Texas Facility
Trump said he was “very concerned” about conditions in migrant detention facilities but contended, without evidence, that conditions were better under his administration than under that of President Obama. He added he did not ask Sanders to step down, but said he “knew” the change at the top of the agency was coming. The president and his closest aides kicked off a purge of top Homeland Security officials in April that has left roughly a dozen leadership vacancies. (O'Toole, Haberkorn and Hennessy-Fiske, 6/25)
PBS NewsHour:
How Political Instability Is Making U.S. Immigration Situation Worse
The U.S.-Mexico border continues to drive political turmoil. After reports of miserable conditions for detained migrant children, John Sanders, acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, resigned. Meanwhile, Congress is scrambling to reach a border funding deal. Lisa Desjardins talks to reporter Bob Moore of the digital news organization El Paso Matters about the problem's origins. (6/25)