The U.S. government on Tuesday (23) released internal footage of a migrant detention center in Donna, Texas, under criticism of an uncontrolled border and access restrictions by the press to monitor the work of patrols in the border of the United States with Mexico.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released dozens of photos and at least two videos that show the conditions of people who have attempted to enter U.S. territory without documents and hope their prosecutions in the States- States will be resolved.
In the images, it is possible to see many people lying side by side, on mattresses on the floor, with thermal blankets to protect them from the cold of dawn. Immigrants have food and public toilets available to them, also according to information released by the government.
All photos and videos are accompanied by captions stating that Donna’s facilities are temporary and “safely handle family units and unaccompanied foreign children found and in the custody of the US Border Patrol.”
The US government’s release of the footage came a day after news site Axios revealed internal photos of the same center in Donna, showing conditions of overcrowding and improvisation at the facility. The situation in the centers is worsening as the number of immigrants – and mostly children – detained in an attempt to enter the United States is reaching record highs under the Biden government.
In the images released by Axios, it is possible to see tents with a capacity of 260 people with a capacity of up to 400, without respecting the social distancing required by the coronavirus pandemic.
The United States faces the largest increase in migrants in the past 20 years at its border with Mexico, and the number of unaccompanied children detained in the currency has skyrocketed. About 9,400 minors were among those detained and deported last month, according to CBP data. If we consider the figures from October to February, the total is almost 30,000 children and adolescents.
Many of these minors remain in detention centers longer than the 72 hours allowed by US law and under inappropriate conditions. As of Saturday (20), there were 10,000 immigrants in CBP custody, and nearly half were unaccompanied children, according to Axios.
The images were uploaded to the news site by Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellas. The congressman says he is not the author of the images, but preferred to publicize them to raise awareness of what is happening at the border.
Cuellar says the tents provide “terrible conditions for the children” and must be quickly transferred to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Targeted at criticism in recent days not only because of the situation at the border, but also because it has restricted media coverage at the scene, the Biden government has rushed to release its images. Officials say the law was an effort to “balance the need for transparency, accountability and accountability” to society and that the Donna center “will increase treatment capacity,” while the other place of detention, this one. this permanent, is being renovated.
Senior journalists who have reported on the immigration crisis under the administration of Barack Obama and Donald Trump – both criticized for their stringent exchange rate policies – say they have not been granted the same access to detention centers under the Biden administration.