Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ We spoke to migrants about conditions at border patrol facilities

They don’t shower or brush their teeth for days.

They watch their sick kids cough & cry through the night.

And some of them use toilets so foul that kids can’t help but throw up.

bit.ly/2XcyBS1

2/ We interviewed more than a dozen migrants after their release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities.

The conditions they described ranged from livable to horrible. bit.ly/2XcyBS1

3/ Gary, a 33-year-old migrant from Siguatepeque, Honduras said: “They don’t have the humanitarian conditions for people to be there. There were more than 200 of us in a single cage — seated on the floor, standing, however we could fit.” bit.ly/2XcyBS1

4/ Gary said the stench inside overflowing toilets was so bad it made him gag and caused children to vomit.

“The bathrooms are full, they aren’t cleaning them regularly.”

bit.ly/2XcyBS1

5/ Two Angolans interviewed at a San Antonio migrant shelter said they were sent to a facility in Del Rio in West Texas where they couldn’t bathe or brush their teeth during a two-day stay. bit.ly/2XcyBS1

6/ “We were in prison. For two days, we didn’t take a bath, we couldn’t clean ourselves, we couldn't brush our teeth. The way we got there was the way we left,” said a 43-year-old Angolan migrant who gave his middle name, Evaristo. bit.ly/2XcyBS1

7/ Several migrants gave mostly positive reviews of the big “white tent” they stayed in at the newest processing facility in Donna, near McAllen — demonstrating that conditions also can vary wildly from one center to the next.

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8/ But Kevin, a 21-year-old migrant, told us: “If you’re able to sleep two hours, you’re lucky.” bit.ly/2XcyBS1

9/ Ananias, 42, was in a cell — “like a dog’’ — at the same center, with his son Gerson, 16.

He said they had to sleep in their wet clothes and never got clean ones, let alone toothbrushes. bit.ly/2XcyBS1

10/ Alfredo and Merlin, two Salvadoran migrants, said they were held for four days without baths or clean clothes.

Their daughter got sick inside.

“I asked for medicine for my daughter, and they wouldn’t give it to me. They just said to give her water.” bit.ly/2XcyBS1

11/ But another migrant said he got a shower, toothpaste, access to medical care, square meals and snacks whenever he wanted.

“If you wanted a juice or a yogurt or something, you would just ask for it and they would give it to you.” bit.ly/2XcyBS1

12/ Here is what U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, said in a written statement. bit.ly/2XcyBS1

13/13 Our nonprofit newsroom is committed to keeping reporters out in the field to cover this story.

But that has a cost.

In just 3 days, more than 200 readers have helped us raise $20k of the $35k we need to continue this coverage. Join them here: bit.ly/2RBJzdw