AP INVESTIGATION: MIGRANT CRISIS MUCH WORSE THAN REVEALED
by Kevin Ryan
“The Biden administration is holding tens of thousands of asylum-seeking children in an opaque network of some 200 facilities that The Associated Press has learned spans two dozen states,” a new AP investigation has uncovered.
“Confidential data obtained by the AP” reveals:
• 21,000 children, including “toddlers”, are being detained in government custody, more than double the number from March.
• One El Paso, Texas, site has more than 4,500 children in it.
• A large Houston facility abruptly closed last month after it was revealed that children were being given plastic bags instead of access to restrooms.
• “The children are coming out sick, infected, infested with lice, and it will not surprise me to see children dying as a consequence,” said Amy Cohen, a child psychiatrist.
• Reports of abuse have resulted in a number of staffers being dismissed, according to an official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
• People are taking children from the government facilities without being vetted by background checks.
• Many parents can’t figure out where their children are, according to attorneys.
• Other parents describe receiving calls from people refusing to identify themselves, telling them to be at an airport or bus station in the next two hours to pick up their children, or they won’t be released.
• Half of the detained children are sleeping in shelters with more than 1,000 other children. More than 17,650 are in facilities with 100 or more children.
• The facilities include a dozen unlicensed “Emergency Intake” facilities inside military installations, stadiums, and convention centers that don’t require traditional legal oversight. The Department of Health and Human Services refuses to say whether there are any legally enforceable standards for caring for children housed at the sites or how they are being monitored.
• The Biden administration is using a number of the same facilities and practices that Biden and others criticized during the Trump administration. “It’s almost like ‘Groundhog Day,’” said attorney Luz Lopez.
• The administration is only allowing very limited access to news media, citing the pandemic other restrictions.
Child psychiatrist Amy Cohen said that, although large numbers of children have been arriving in the U.S. for years, she’s never seen the situation as bad as it is today.
“The system has been very dysfunctional, and it’s getting worse,” Cohen said.
SOURCE:
https://apnews.com/article/3b4e480c9021e6a8e02313f4c73a497e
