Thread by @RepMGS

Reports from the Office of the Inspector General, after unannounced visits to CBP facilities, detailed prolonged detention, overcrowding, and inhumane conditions. We have a humanitarian crisis at our border. We cannot avert our eyes. We cannot become numb to this. (Thread)

I asked the following questions of the Assistant IG Diana Shaw during yesterday's @HouseJudiciary hearing.

MGS: ... on the first page of that [report], it indicates that your inspectors observed dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention, is that correct?

DS: Yes.

MGS: Okay, and that included non-compliance with standards applicable to children, including lack of access to hot meals, showers, and change of clothes, right?

DS: Correct.

MGS: And those findings led you to publish two alerts raising the issues to the attention of DHS leadership and requesting immediate action, right?

DS: Correct.

MGS: And you recommended that the Department of Homeland Security take immediate steps to alleviate dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention?

DS: That’s right.

MGS: Okay, and then in your conclusions you say that the Department has not developed a long-term plan to address these issues, is that right?

DS: That’s our understanding, yes.

MGS: Okay, and that the Department’s response to your management alerts is not sufficient?

DS: Correct.

MGS:...This goes beyond being a troubling statistic but a horrifying fact is that children are dying in American custody at the border, correct?

DS: Yes, I think that we have confirmed that we have ongoing investigations into several of those deaths.

The explanation for this photo stopped me in my tracks. OIG observed hundreds of detainees in lines, surrendering their valuables to CBP. They also observed staff discarding all other detainee properties such as backpacks, suitcases, and handbags in a nearby dumpster.

MGS: It is not standard policy to throw away the personal possessions of people seeking asylum in this country, is it?

DS: No. TEDS standards that govern this say that you should be bagging/tagging property...typically would be stored, then given back...when they’re released.