{"id":132454,"date":"2019-07-03T17:02:30","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T16:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/?p=132454"},"modified":"2019-07-03T17:03:56","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T16:03:56","slug":"texas-dangerous-us-migrant-detention-centres-on-mexico-border-a-ticking-time-bomb-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/?p=132454","title":{"rendered":"Texas: ‘Dangerous’ US migrant detention centres on Mexico border a ‘ticking time bomb’ | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Dangerous overcrowding” at migrant detention centres on the US-Mexico border needs “immediate attention”, says a government watchdog.<\/p>\n

Photos from the Rio Grande Valley reveal rooms packed with people sprawled on the floor, some penned in behind metal fences, others forced to stand.<\/p>\n

In one photo, a man holds a cardboard sign with the word “help” to a cell window.<\/p>\n

The situation was described as “a ticking time bomb” by a manager at one of the Texas centres.<\/p>\n

The report<\/strong> by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General demands urgent action “to alleviate dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults”.<\/p>\n

In one case, 71 men were packed into a a cell intended for 41 women.<\/p>\n

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\"Officer<\/p>\n<\/div>

\nImage:<\/span>
\nThe dangerous overcrowding needs ‘immediate attention’, says the watchdog<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The deaths of a father and his young daughter<\/strong>, pictured drowned on the banks of the Rio Grande river, have brought home the reality of the risks taken by the migrants.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump insists the solution is to plough on with his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico.<\/p>\n

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\n\"Behind<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


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El Salvador president: Migrant deaths ‘our fault’<\/span>
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

El Salvador’s leader has told Sky News<\/strong> a wall is not the answer, but said the deaths were “our fault” because his country is in such a perilous state.<\/p>\n

At a detention centre in McAllen, Texas, the watchdog said there were more than 50 unaccompanied children younger than seven, “and some of them had been in custody over two weeks”.<\/p>\n

Children at three centres had no access to showers, while some adults had not showered at all – despite being held for as long as a month – and were instead given wet wipes.<\/p>\n

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\"Officer<\/p>\n<\/div>

\nImage:<\/span>
\nSome people held up signs and banged on windows during the inspection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Detainees banged on windows and held up notes to show their time in custody as the inspectors looked around.<\/p>\n

The US says nearly a quarter of a million people have been apprehended on the border from October 2018 to May 2019 – a 134% increase on a year before.<\/p>\n

The watchdog visited five facilities and saw “serious overcrowding and prolonged detention of unaccompanied alien children, families, and single adults that requite immediate attention”.<\/p>\n

It said thousands of people, including more than 800 children, were being held much longer than the 72 hours permitted.<\/p>\n

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\"Trump<\/p>\n<\/div>

\nImage:<\/span>
\nPresident Trump insists a wall is the way to deter illegal migrants<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Some adults at one centre were also being held in “standing room only conditions for a week”.<\/p>\n

Border Patrol officials said people had deliberately blocked toilets with blankets and socks so that they could be released from the cells.<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security described the situation on the southern border as “an acute and worsening crisis” which is “overwhelming the ability of the federal government to respond”.<\/p>\n

It said an average of 4,600 people a day had crossed or arrived at the border without proper documents in May 2019.<\/p>\n

In May 2017, it was fewer than 700 a day.<\/p>\n

Two tents capable of holding 500 people each have been put up in the Rio Grande Valley since the inspections, with plans for another by the end of July.<\/p>\n

The DHS also said the number of unaccompanied children being held had fallen from nearly 2,800 to under 1,000 by 25 June.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Dangerous overcrowding” at migrant detention centres on the US-Mexico border needs “immediate attention”, says a government watchdog. Photos from the Rio Grande Valley reveal rooms packed with people sprawled on the floor, some penned in behind metal fences, others forced to stand. In one photo, a man holds a cardboard sign with the word “help” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[12625,475,9247],"class_list":["post-132454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more","category-news","tag-detention-center","tag-united-states","tag-world-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/132455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}