The US-Mexico border is reportedly in a state of chaos: the focus is on treating refugee children in a Texas detention center. After sharp criticism from NGOs, the Acting Chief of the US Customs and Crime Protection Authority (CBP), John Sanders, resigned. He will be followed by a hardliner in migration policy.
Specifically, the United States currently employed the catastrophic conditions in the border control station in Clint, Texas. Nearly 250 children were displaced on Tuesday following the revelations of the New York Times, but about a hundred of them had to return there shortly after, according to the Border Guard, apparently because there were no beds in other homes.
NGOs, doctors and lawyers complained, among other things, about the lack of hygiene and inadequate provision of water and food. A lawyer who visited the „horror camp“ described the situation with the BBC. Nobody would care about the children, according to Professor Warren Binford of Williamette University. „The cells are overcrowded, as there are lice here and a flu outbreak there.“ The children would wear the same robe that they already had on crossing the border, so the lawyer Elora Mukherjee told CBS News: „It is inhumane.“
Unaccompanied immigrant minors must be transferred to their parents or health authorities within 72 hours, as required by US law. But many of the children staying at Clint apparently had to stay there for several weeks.
According to the US Border Guard, the facility is not up to the standard. „As our leadership has said many times, our transitional camps are not designed to provide for vulnerable groups, and we urgently need additional humanitarian care to deal with the crisis.“ Last year, US authorities and the harsh policies of US President Donald Trump in the criticism. The reason was that thousands of children were separated from their parents after crossing the border from Mexico to the USA.
No reason to resign
The current chief of the US border police, Sanders, who has now resigned due to heavy criticism, joined his office only two months ago. He will give up the post on July 5, Sanders said in a letter from which several US media quoted. He did not give a reason. Sanders had taken over the leadership of the agency after Border Guard Kevin McAleenan was nominated to succeed US Secretary of State for Defense Kirstjen Nielsen.
In some refugee camps along the US-Mexico border, the humanitarian situation is catastrophic.
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According to information from several US media Trump wants to appoint the incumbent head of the immigration office ICE, Mark Morgan, to Sanders‘ successor. In a CBS Tuesday interview, Morgan said he did not believe there was a „systematic problem“ in the detention centers. Trump had promised in the 2016 election campaign to stop illegal immigration. The number of refugees has increased steadily since the beginning of his term. In May alone, 144,000 immigrants were apprehended at the US southern border, including 57,000 minors.
House of Representatives votes for release of aid
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives voted to release $ 4.5 billion (just under € 4 billion) in aid for the refugees on the Mexican border. Democratic House Chair Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday night that money should be spent on food, clothing, toiletries, medical care, and shelter for migrant children.
The vast majority of republican MPs opposed the text. The Republican-controlled Senate intends to present its own text on aid this week. In the House of Representatives, the opposition Democrats have the majority.
However, a photo of the border between Mexico and the USA also caused consternation. According to the media, it shows the bodies of a young man and a small child lying face down in the water. As the Mexican newspaper „La Jornada“ and the news agency AP reported, it is a young man from El Salvador and his almost two-year-old daughter. They had drowned in the attempt to cross the Rio Grande. „La Jornada“ published the photos first.
The government of El Salvador now pledged financial help for the family of the man and his daughter. Head of state Nayib Bukele has ordered the Leic
