Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

Roy says CBP agents are being vilified by Congress.

He does not mention CBP agents vilifying lawmakers and immigrants however.
courthousenews.com/homeland-secur…

Roy says both parties have failed. Fix asylum laws. Fund ICE. Take action. Texas communities get overrun "because cowards in the swamp refuse to do their job."

Rep Veronica Escobar, D-Texas now up. She lives not "near" the border but on it. In El Paso. For 7 mos, she's visited centers in her district.
Says there's no doubt the increasing # of migrants presents a challenge, but we've failed to live up to our founding values to address

Says El Paso, as a city, has stepped up. Feeding thousands.. Her community, with a fraction of resources given to feds, has responded more compassionately, strategically than govt has. It's not a matter of resources, but a matter of will.

El Paso has stood up facilities with voluntary help. Transported with voluntary help.
But our govt - under Trump - has been "cruel" she says.

Family separation is illegal under UN law. It inflicts deep, life long trauma. A policy so heinous that a sound of a weeping child secretly recorded in a detention facility moved even some of the most hard-line anti-immigrant Republicans, she says

Immigrants are dehumanized, something that also dehumanizes good agents who are stripped of their own dignity, Escobar says.

Migrant protection protocols under admin that send legal asylum seekers into another country as they await their hearing, a violation of due process.
A woman who was said she could not be in Juarez, Mexico, was sent back there. When she was, she was brutally gang-raped there.

Escobar is unveiling legislation that will address the abuses of CBP.
"This isn't about resources. One only needs to look at El Paso which has done so without any resources."

..@AOC up. She asks to be sworn in. It is not required today. But she asked to be.

When she was asked to testify today, she said, frankly, she didn't know where to begin.
Much has been made about Dems saying it was a manufactured crisis and unncessary.

It is unnecessary to detain families who have harmed to person in the US, AOC says. Unnecessary to call children unaccompanied when they arrive with bros/sisters/grandparents and they are treated no diff than human traffickers.

AOC says much has been made about not blaming agents. And she says, in fact, she agrees. the blame should be laid at the feet of Stephen Miller where the policy is fueled by "hurt people, hurting people."

Its unnecessary to choose policies like metering or remain-in-Mexico policies that puts them right in the crosshairs for human traffickers ripe for picking. Its manufactured crisis because the cruelty is manufactured. No need to overcrowd, detain.

AOC recounts: during her visit, they were told they couldn't speak to migrants, touch them, etc. and this was for "their safety" she says. They were asked to surrender cell phones in an enviro where guards, like those who posted on FB, that they wanted to harm lawmakers

One officer sneaked a photo of AOC and at that point, they asked to be allowed into the cells.
Of the toilet/sink issue - the sink was NOT working, she says. And when they were told to drink out of a toilet bowl, she said she believes these women.

She saw canker sores in their mouths. She saw the conditions. She believes when people say they are forced to sleep on the floor or weren't fed.
The worst thing, she says, there were US flags hanging all over the facility. while women were being called names and disrespected.

.@RashidaTlaib now up.
By allowing her to testify before the committee about what they saw in Clint on July 1, they aren't picking on POTUS. They are holding the admin accountable, she says.

Tlaib holds back tears as she speaks of a 7yo girl from Guatemala who died from sepsis due to neglect. "It is a dangerous ideology that rules our nation right now. Ive been haunted by the unforgettable image of a 4 yo boy coming up to a glass door and asking, where his papa was."

He slid a small dry board to her so she could write. Tlaib wasn't sure what he needed before an agent asked her to stop engaging him.

She won't forget the father from Brazil who cried as he said he just wanted his son to "be an American boy."
She won't forget a grandmother, Daisy, who had a red ribbon on her wrist with list of her medications she needs. She was detained for 40 days.

Her mentally impaired grandson and her were separated.

In Clint, she met a pregnant woman w/her first child. She smiled at Tlaib, and she connected with her. Even though they told her not to talk to them, she couldn't not go to someone smiling at her.

She said Hello in English. She said she was there for 27 days. She was happy, glowing, because she had not realized she was pregnant until she came here. But she is free now, after the Dems visit. She's at home.

Tlaib is crying as she says the woman told her, "You will be part of her family forever."
Tlaib on CBP morale: asked agents what do you need so you wont be overwhelmed?

One said stop sending money, its not working. One said I wasn't trained for this, I'm not a medical care worker. Others said I want to be at the border, that's where I'm supposed to be. Another said the sep policy wasn't working.

Says suicide rates among CBP agents increasing. and that should be entered into the record. That must be addressed too. The dehumanization of these agents.

.@AyannaPressley - She cannot forget what she has seen, she says. But she will speak for and create room for those people who dont have representation in this room today, says they are not voiceless, all have voices, but they are silenced by the system.

Pressley asked agents about conditions, basic conditions, like temp control, they were dismissed or met with non-answers. They couldn't tell her what the heat index has to be to bring people inside. On her visit, it was 103 in El Paso. Ppl were still held outside.

She recounts stories of a woman who was epileptic and was deeply fearful she'd have a seizure. She was afraid to ask for medication because she feared retribution for merely asking.

One immigrant woman asked Pressley: "Does she deserved to be treated like a dog?"
"These women aren't voiceless They are cruelly and criminally unheard. Not today. These women have an opportunity to listen and act."

On that concrete floor, many women still had a deep abiding love for this country, a country they had only first known as their captor, Pressley says.

That wraps up testimony from the lawmakers. Up next: Acting Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security Jennifer Costello; Health and Human Services assistant Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections Ann Maxwell...

Also: Elora Mukherjee, a law professor at Columbia Law School; Jennifer Nagda, policy director for the Young Center for Immigrants Children’s Rights and
Thomas D. Horman, former acting director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Costello, acting IG of Homeland Security now up. DHS conducts unannounced inspections to check for compliance on duration of detention, access to food, water, hygiene.

While CBP has struggled with duration, but the recent inspection presented something far more grievous, she said. In El Paso del Norte center, the max capacity is 125. There were 750 people on sight. In a day, it increased to 900.

Children did not have access to hot meals until the week IG arrived. 2 of 3 facilities had no access to hot showers and other facilities.
IG's most recent report is here:
documentcloud.org/documents/6190…

Overcrowding and prolonged detention is causing health problems (chicken pox, scabies) but it is also causing increased tension between people being detained. This makes it a "ticking time bomb" too

DHS responded by saying the situation at border was acute and worsening, and IG says that's correct, they've called for immediate action. While DHS says they've reduced # of kids separated, but they are still concerned about this, Costello says.

DHS leadership must come up with a strategic approach ASAP, Costello says.

Health and Human Services assistant Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections Ann Maxwell up next.

Maxwell visited facilities in 5 states. A series of reports on those findings will be published over the next few months.

She will talk about the # of children impacted by fam seps. In Jan, it was unknown how many, but it was certainly higher than 2,000+ initially reported.

HHS staff observed a significant increase in seps in the summer of 2017.
Now Maxwell says, DHS is trying to track down kids. So far, 791 children have been identified. The effort, was initially estimated to take 1-2 years.

Money, documents, what immigrants brought into centers with them was better documented than they were. - Ann Maxwell

Elora Mukherjee, a law professor at Columbia Law School, now up. For the last 12 years, she's worked with families and children detained at the border. In the last 5 years, she's spent more than 1,000 hours in detention facilities interviewing immigrants there.

She went to the Clint facility last month, interviewing children as a monitor for the Flores settlement agreement. They interviewed 70 children.
"I want to share with you what I heard, saw and smelled."

Children could not wash hands with soap because none was available. Wearing clothes covered in breast milk, urine, vomit. Children had a stench because they were wearing the same clothes they crossed in. They couldnt even change underwear.

Children were hungry, children were traumatized. They consistently cried and some wept in their interviews with me. One 6 yo girl, detained all alone, could only say "I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared" over and over again. She couldn't even say her own name.

Children were sick. Children as young as 8 yo were required to take care of even younger children. Guards brought in and would demand "Who is going to care for this one?"

A 2 yo w.o a diaper on, wouldnt speak. Ever. He peed all over himself as tried talking to him.

She met an 8 month old boy who had been detained for 3 weeks.

At Clint, she met a 6 yo boy who she will never forget. Her voice shakes for a moment. When she asked if he was alone? He began to sob for nearly an hour. He said he had a brother. She had to break out of her role as a lawyer. She wiped his tears, his nose, rubbed his back.

Here was a child, the same age as her son stuck in a hellhole. A lawyer for CBP saw us both. A guard brought him a lollipop as an incentive to take him back to his cell.
She pleaded to prioritize appropriate care for him.

Later that day, CBP counsel informed her, they would release him and reunite him with his brother.
"Why didnt that happen sooner? What would have happened if I didnt meet with him that day? What is happening to others like him?" - Mukherjee

Her team asked for an expanded tour. CBP banned them. Why? She asks before saying they are authorized by federal courts to monitor these facilities.

There's a vote right now, the hearing will reconvene at 1:15 PM. I will resume live-tweeting at that time.

STORY DEVELOPING.
The conditions at immigrant jails are so heinous, the stench from unwashed children caked in urine, vomit and rancid breast milk so foul, it was hard for adults sent to interview them to sit close as they spoke.
courthousenews.com/squalid-condit…
@CourthouseNews

We're still on recess, fyi. Hope to resume shortly.

We're back and first up for her remarks is Jennifer Nagda, policy director for the Young Center for Immigrants Children’s Rights..
@CourthouseNews

The center makes recommendations to fed agencies about best interests for children. Over the past 2 yeras, across 8 locations, they've worked 100s of cases where DHS officials unlawfully separated children from their parents.

"If I leave you with one message today: children are still being separated for reasons that have nothing to do with child safety and which would never pass muster under child protection laws in 50 states."

The avg age of kids they help is 7 years old. Or, second-graders.

She's here today to address the reasons for the continuing separations. DHS has sep'd family on mere arrests or suspicion of criminal activity by the parent. No state would permit this, unless the crime was related to child abuse.

In nearly every case she says, DHS sep was contrary to best interest.
A mother of a toddler was accused of being a gang member, which even if true, does not justify separation. But she wasn't. She was a victim of gang violence who fled here to seek protection for child.

Only to have her child taken from her for 8 months.

A 6 year old boy believed his father had intentionally left him, Nagda recounts. He gently handed his son to officers so that his son wouldn't be frightened. or harmed, he said.

No child should be separated unless there is immediate risk of harm, Nagda testifies. Congress should also require, under law, that each federal agency to consider the best interest of unaccompanied children first.

Thomas D. Horman, former acting director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement now up. He's a 34 year vet of the immigration/human trafficking/custom related offenses sector.

He retired in 2017 and was asked on that same day to stay on by Trump. He stayed for 1.5 years, until he retired again in 2018.

He says call for action to fix the immigration problem has gone ignored. There's too much "resisting of the president," and too much favorability toward open borders

Says media and some lawmakers want to say immigrants are mistreated and immigrants treated poorly. Horman says this should be no surprise to anyone, McAleenan said this was going to happen, they need better facilities.

The same ppl who vilify border patrol are the same one who refuse the call to help, he adds.
He says no one talks about the agents who are exposed to illness, the long hours they work, how they care for children who cross in the hands of criminal organizations.

Those that attack the profesional integrity of those that serve and throw out unsubstantiated allegations should be ashamed, Homan says.

Regret spelling his last name wrong earlier. It is Homan nor Horman.

Over half border agents are black descent, Homan says, and to say that they are racist or mistreat is wrong.
Asks if ppl ever walk up to CBP agents and thank them for their service to the country?

Rep Raskin up. Admin said zero tolerance was meant to deter, in other instances, to prosecute parents. But a staff report out today shows that parents who were separated never actually served time in prison. The only thing it changed is that everyone is subject to prosecution.

Mukherjee: Admin has separated 3,500+ families and ince the court ordered an injunction to stop separating children, again, more than 700 families have been separated. Many are separated based only on allegations of criminality or arrests that have nothing to do w/ child safety.

One parent was in criminal custody for a day, they left a facility, charges weren't pressed or given time served for time in detention, they returned to the detention center and child is already gone.
Raskin: Is this taking place still?

Nagda: This was happening during zero tolerance roll out, yes. This happened when parents would appear at border seeking asylum.
*Today* fams are separated when ANY criminal history is alleged. Could be an arrest from a decade ago, allegation of crim history in foreign country

And it doesnt have to be a minor offense, it doesnt even have to be a conviction. it could just be suspicion.

Raskin proposes: rescind Apr 2018 MOA that required HHS to share information about potential sponsors for immigrant children with DHS. Last year, admin used data under this agreement to arrest and deport 170 ppl who otherwise would have been willing sponsors for children

Homan says the HHS policy needs to be stricter - if you're a parent and you're hire a smuggler to take your children, you should be responsible for that.
If we're here to talk about protecting children, than these rules must be more stringent.