DHS Report Details ‘Dangerous’ Conditions at U.S. Border Facilities

U.S. officials have shed more light on the growing border crises.

In a Department of Homeland Security draft report obtained by BuzzFeed News, inspectors detailed the atrocious conditions at South Texas migrant detention centers. Authorities described the facilities as squalid and overcrowded, with children and adults suffering from a lack of proper nutrition and adequate sanitation. 

The draft report—addressed to DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan—was compiled after inspectors visited five border camps in the week of June 10. BuzzFeed states the report “appears to have been sent to DHS officials last week for comments and requests for redactions before being released publicly.”

According to the report, officials found migrants were forced to endure prolonged and dangerous conditions. Some were reportedly confined to standing-only rooms for a week and others were placed in crowded cells for up to a month. Single adults also had no access to showers and lived off a diet of bologna sandwiches, which resulted in a range of medical issues including constipation. 

Per BuzzFeed:

The inspectors said the overcrowding and prolonged detention for the single adults represented a security risk for detainees, agents, and officers. Adults purposely clogged toilets with Mylar blankets and socks in order to be released from their cells, while some refused to return to cells after they had been cleaned. Others tried to escape.

Officials said they had to cut the inspection short because their presence increased the commotion.

“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 (e.g. beards),” the draft stated.

The report echoed the accounts of immigration attorneys who recently visited border holding centers. Inspectors are now calling on the DHS to remedy the facility conditions. 

“Specifically, we are recommending that the Department of Homeland Security take immediate steps to alleviate dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults in the Rio Grande Valley,” acting inspector Jennifer Costello wrote. “[…] Senior managers at several facilities raised security concerns for their agents and the detainees. For example, one called the situation a ‘ticking time bomb,’ and another said there was ‘fear of a revolt.'”