Disturbing photos show 'dangerous overcrowding' at migrant detention facilities in Texas

August 2024 · 3 minute read
2019-07-02T20:51:01Z

Newly released photos from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General show extremely harsh living conditions for detained migrants in Texas near the US-Mexico border.

The internal government watchdog report warns of "dangerous overcrowding" and "prolonged detention" happening in the five detention facilities that DHS inspectors visited in the Rio Grande valley during the week of June 10.

The region has the highest volume of incoming migrants, with more than 220,000 border apprehensions since October 2018, according to government investigators.

Eighty-eight adult males held in a cell with a maximum capacity of 41, some signaling prolonged detention to OIG Staff, observed by OIG on June 12, 2019, at Border Patrol’s Fort Brown Station. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General

Investigators found that Border Patrol had 8,000 detainees in custody, and 3,400 were being held beyond the 72-hour detention standard.

Read more: What a typical day is like for a child in government custody at a Texas Border Patrol station

'A ticking time bomb'

According to the report, senior facility managers raised "security concerns" for detainees and the agents. Investigators noted that some migrants had refused to reenter their cell and others had attempted to escape, leading Border Patrol to call in its special operations force to "demonstrate it was prepared to use force if necessary."

One facility manager called the situation "a ticking time bomb."

Migrants tried to get the attention of investigators during the investigators' visits. "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 said.

Fifty-one adult females held in a cell designated for male juveniles with a capacity for 40 (left), and 71 adult males held in a cell designated for adult females with a capacity for 41 (right), observed by OIG on June 12, 2019, at Border Patrol’s Fort Brown Station. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General

The report said children did not have access to showers and many were sleeping on concrete floors. They also had no new clothes to change in to and two facilities had not given them hot food until investigators arrived, according to the OIG.

Read more: Only a quarter of Americans agree with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that migrant detentions are comparable to 'concentration camps'

Overcrowding of families observed by OIG on June 11, 2019, at Border Patrol’s McAllen, TX, Centralized Processing Center. DHS Office of the Inspector General

Dire conditions at migrant detention facilities near the US-Mexico border has sparked public outrage, particularly centered around the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policies that led to family separations last year. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez compared the detention facilities to the World War II-era "concentration camps."

Last week, Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan called reports of children being held in poor conditions at detention centers "unsubstantiated." Trump administration officials have said the conditions are the result of backlogs in other facilities that are better equipped to hold migrants for longer periods of time, NBC News reported.

Watch: Why the US border facilities are 'concentration camps,' according to historians

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