Ocasio-Cortez details 'horrifying' conditions at migrant detention facility
What Ocasio-Cortez saw inside the facility, which has been plagued by recent reports of abusive treatment of detained children, was “horrifying”, she tweeted.
She reported officers forcing women to drink out of toilets.
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With serial visits by Democratic presidential candidates and elected officials to migrant detention centers in recent days, the Trump administration has forcefully rejected claims of systemic abuse of detainees, calling them “unsubstantiated”.
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As Ocasio-Cortez visited the Texas facility, NBC News revealed an internal Department of Homeland Security report that said conditions inside an El Paso center were so dire that as early as May, border agents were arming themselves against possible riots.
Inspectors at the facility noted “only four showers were available for 756 immigrants, more than half of the immigrants were being held outside, and immigrants inside were being kept in cells maxed out at more than five times their capacity”, NBC reported.
“A cell meant for a maximum of 35 held 155 adult males with only one toilet and sink. The cell was so crowded the men could not lie down to sleep,” the report went on. “With limited access to showers and clean clothing, detainees were wearing soiled clothing for days or weeks.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not reply to a request for comment.
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However, the California congresswoman Judy Chu, also on the trip with Ocasio-Cortez, said she met a woman who had been told by a border agent: “If you want water, just drink from a toilet.”
“These are the same CBP personnel who threatened to throw burritos at members of Congress,” Chu tweeted. “Changes must be made.”
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that migrants were being treated “like animals”.
She wrote: “This has been horrifying so far. It is hard to understate the enormity of the problem. We’re talking systemic cruelty [with] a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals.”
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