The images were released Tuesday by U.S. government inspectors who visited facilities in South Texas where migrant adults and children who crossed the nearby border with Mexico are processed and detained. An autopsy report also released Tuesday confirmed that a 2-year-old child who died in April had
1 / 8Immigration Child Detention ReportA portion of a report from government auditors reveals images of people penned into overcrowded Border Patrol facilities, photographed Tuesday, July 2, 2019, in Washington. The report released Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General warns that facilities in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley face"serious overcrowding" and require"immediate attention.
"Specifically, 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. BuzzFeed first reported on a draft version of the report, which blurs most faces in the photos.
The Border Patrol said after Wilmer's death that it had detained Wilmer and his mother for three days when she told agents her son was ill. It didn't specify if that was the first report or sign that Wilmer was sick. The agency did not respond to follow-up questions sent Tuesday. Auditors from the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general visited five facilities and two ports of entry in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where more people cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally than any other section. The dangers there were recently illustrated in images shared around the world showing a young father and daughter who drowned trying to enter the U.S. by crossing the Rio Grande.
Immigrant advocates blame the Trump administration for refusing to promptly release families, children and people seeking asylum, leading to increased numbers of people detained.— Two facilities inspected had not provided children access to hot meals until the week that auditors arrived. Some adults were only receiving bologna sandwiches, causing constipation and in some cases requiring medical attention.
The report also detailed"security incidents" at multiple facilities, including one case in which detained migrants refused to re-enter their cell after it had been cleaned. People detained have also in some cases clogged toilets with their Mylar blankets and socks in order to be let out of the cells.
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