Congress hears Escobar's testimony on border detention conditions for migrant children
Congressional committee to hear firsthand testimony on border detention conditions for migrant kids
Congress hears Escobar's testimony on border detention conditions for migrant children Congressional committee to hear firsthand testimony on border detention conditions for migrant kids Check out this story on ElPasoTimes.com: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2019/07/12/border-migrant-cbp-facility-conditions-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-veronica-escobar/1708291001/
Lauren Villagran, El Paso Times Published 8:46 a.m. MT July 12, 2019 | Updated 12:43 p.m. MT July 12, 2019
Dangerous, cruel and inhumane: That's how El Paso U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar described the conditions in which hundreds of migrant children were being held in Border Patrol custody in El Paso during the peak of a migration crisis.
Escobar testified Friday before the House Oversight Committee on allegations of child mistreatment in border immigration detention, along with other congressional representatives and federal government inspectors.
She told the committee that border communities have witnessed the deaths of at least six children in government custody, ongoing issues of family separation, overcrowding in border detention facilities and "conditions that dehumanize migrants."
Escobar testified first and was followed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass); and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) -- all of whom visited a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, last month where unaccompanied migrant children were being held in unsanitary conditions for weeks at a time.
"We've seen severe overcrowding in Border Patrol processing centers that is so inhumane, that the DHS Office of the Inspector General described it as 'dangerous' because it represents 'an immediate risk' to agents and migrants alike," she said in testimony.
Jennifer Costello, acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, said her team made an unannounced visit to El Paso border facilities in May. A border station at the Paso del Norte bridge designed to hold 125 people maximum was packed with more than 750 detainees, she said.
She described what she found in the inspection as "far more grievous than our previous unannounced inspections."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has struggled to comply with its own standards of custody and care, which mandate that Border Patrol hold immigrant detainees for not more than 72 hours.
A CBP truck enters the Clint, Texas, facility on July 4, 2019. (Photo: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times)
A surge in families and unaccompanied children arriving at the border peaked in May precipitating the crisis in detention conditions, although June apprehensions by Border Patrol remained well above last year's level in El Paso and borderwide.
CBP reported taking into custody more than 63,600 unaccompanied minors at the Southwest border in June, compared with more than 37,300 a year ago. Apprehensions of family units were also up year over year, to more than 390,000 versus about 68,500 in June 2018.
Unauthorized immigration tends to dip during the hot summer months.
The two-part House Oversight Committee hearing on Friday is titled "The Trump Administration's Child Separation Policy: Substantiated Allegations of Mistreatment."
More: The Stuff of Nightmares: Inside the migrant detention center in Clint, Texas
More: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Women in CBP facility face 'psychological warfare' from officers
The hearing comes in the wake of numerous government accountability office and media reports detailing the distressing and unsanitary conditions in which immigrants -- including children -- have been held in border facilities.
Democrat lawmakers host press conference after El Paso detention facilit...
U.S. Rep Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, member of the House Judiciary Committee and Freshman Representative of the Hispanic Caucus talks about what she saw on her tour of area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. Escobar was attempting to talk over the protesters. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
James, did not want to give last name, speaks to protesters while Richard Madrid, back left, and Fsinot Pierre, back right, record the protest Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. U.S. and Texas lawmakers held a press conference about the area border facilities they toured at the Clint Border Patrol station. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, walks to the front of the Clint Border Patrol station to talk about what she saw at area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, talks about what she saw on her tour of area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. Ocasio-Cortez was attempting to talk over the protesters. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
Cristy Velez and Zeb Green gather at the front of the Clint Border Patrol station to hear U.S. and Texas lawmakers talk about what they thought of the area facilities they toured Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
Melanie Brooks talks about what she thinks of the border fence before U.S. and Texas lawmakers speak at a news conference Monday, July 1, 209, at the Border Patrol Station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ/EL PASO TIMES
Clint resident Diane Otten holds a sign that reads, "Plight of Children... Whose fault? Their parents, our congress, Mex. cartels" before a press conference where U.S. and Texas lawmakers talked about what they thought of area border facilities they toured Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California, talks about what he thought of the area border facilities during a press conference Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
Richard Madrid holds a Trump 2020 flag outside the doors of the Clint Border Patrol station Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. Protesters gathered to hear U.S. and Texas lawmakers talk about what they thought of the area facilities they toured. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, talks about what she thought of the area border facilities during a press conference Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
Protesters gather at the front of the Clint Border Patrol station to hear U.S. and Texas lawmakers talk about what they thought of the area facilities they toured Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
A woman who did not want to be identified talks to Carmen Jubio outside the doors of the Clint Border Patrol station Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. Protesters gathered to hear U.S. and Texas lawmakers talk about what they thought of the area facilities they toured. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
Carmen Jubio finishes talking to a woman who did not want to be identified outside the doors of the Clint Border Patrol station Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. Protesters gathered to hear U.S. and Texas lawmakers talk about what they thought of the area facilities they toured. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts, talks about what she thought of the area border facilities during a press conference Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania, talks about what she thought of the area border facilities during a press conference Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, listens to other lawmakers talk about what they thought about the area border facilities after a tour Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
Richard Madrid, left, and Fsinot Pierre, right, talk to Andrew Kimmel outside the doors of the Clint Border Patrol station Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. Protesters gathered to hear U.S. and Texas lawmakers talk about what they thought of the area facilities they toured. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, member of the House Judiciary Committee and Freshman Representative of the Hispanic Caucus talks about what she saw on her tour of area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. Escobar was attempting to talk over the protesters. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, is surrounded by reporters while she attempts to get into a vehicle after she spoke about what she thought about area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the Border Patrol station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, member of the House Judiciary Committee and Freshman Representative of the Hispanic Caucus, walks to the front of the Clint Border Patrol station to talk about what she saw at area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
U.S. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, is escorted back to her vehicle after she speaks at the Border Patrol station in Clint about what she saw at area border facilities Monday, July 1, at the station in Clint. BRIANA SANCHEZ / EL PASO TIMES
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