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Washington, D.C. –Today, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, during a Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship hearing on "Overcrowding and Prolonged Detention at CBP Facilities:"
"The title of today’s hearing, "Overcrowding and Prolonged Detention at CBP Facilities," barely begins to convey the inhumane conditions children and families in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody are experiencing in facilities along the southern border.
"Today, we will focus on 6 Texas CBP facilities recently examined by the DHS Inspector General’s Office, which documented a culture of utter neglect and disregard for migrants that is profoundly disturbing. The IG’s report is bad enough, but it must not be read in a vacuum.
"We also cannot ignore the reports of sexual assault and retaliation against children at the Yuma Processing Center in Arizona, nor overlook the racist and misogynist Facebook postings by current and former CBP officers that dehumanized migrants and disparaged female Members of Congress.
"Not only did CBP leadership know about this group, it now appears that the Chief of the Border Patrol herself was a member. This is the context in which we must consider the horrific conditions in CBP facilities.
"On May 30, 2019, the IG issued a "Management Alert" that focused on dangerous overcrowding of single adults at the Del Norte Processing Center, including the packing of 900 individuals into a space with a maximum capacity of 125, and the holding of 41 individuals in a cell designed to hold 8. This overcrowding made it impossible for men and women to lie down, and some were forced to stay in standing-room-only conditions for days and even weeks. The photos accompanying the Management Alert powerfully illustrate the misery and suffering at these facilities.
"Although theDHS concurred with the IG’s recommendations, the agency claims that it would not be able to correct these problems until November 30, 2020—nearly 18 months from now. It is outrageous that DHS leadership could read this report and decide that men, women, and childrencould be detained in these deplorable conditions for 18 more months.
"Just 5 weeks later, on July 2, the IG issued another Management Alert that focused on the dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults at 5 CBP facilities in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.The IG documented that some 1,500 children and adults were held in short-term holding rooms longer than the 72 hours generally permitted—including more than 50 children 7-years old or younger who had been detained for over two weeks.
"Most of these individuals had not showered for the entire duration of their detention, even though several of them had been held for as long as a month; and most were still wearing the clothing they arrived in days, weeks, and even up to a month before.
"That we would treat any human beingthis way is unconscionable; and the situation cannot be blamed solely on the increased numbers of asylum seekers arriving at the southern border. CBP made a choice here.
"ICE and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have the mandate and infrastructure to detain individuals for longer than 72 hours. If those facilities are full, however, CBP has the authority to release individuals and families after completion of intake processing. There is no doubt that the overcrowding and conditions documented in the 6 Texas facilities warranted release of at least some of these asylum seekers. But it appears to be the Trump Administration’s policy to continue holding children and families in such conditions as a form of punishment to deter others from coming.
"This is neither necessary nor sustainable. There is a humanitarian crisis in Central America, and the Trump Administration’s policies are now creating a humanitarian crisis in our country too.
"The IG has done a great service to our nation by regularly and impartially reviewing CBP conditions.Their findings require prompt action consistent with American laws and values, and later this week the Judiciary Committee plans to take up legislation to address deficiencies in CBP custody facilities.
"I thank the Chair, Ms. Lofgren, for holding this important hearing, and I appreciate Ms. Shaw appearing today to discuss her Office’s findings. I look forward to her testimony, and I yield back the balance of my time."
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