John Sanders, the acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner, is reportedly stepping down soon, amid—but not because of—public outrage over his agency’s treatment of migrant children. A doctor and lawyers who have seen the children have reported that they are going without adequate food or medical treatment and have been denied basic hygiene items such as soap and access to showers. Those revelations have led the Trump administration to shuffle some of the kids around, but it’s not at all clear if that’s an improvement.
The Associated Press reported that most of the children had been moved out of the Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, at the center of some of the worst reports, with only about 30 remaining there. But advocates didn’t have good reports about a different Border Patrol station some had been moved to, and The New York Times has subsequently reported that 100 children were moved back to Clint.
CBP is also claiming that reports of children not being fed adequately or allowed to shower are false, with an official telling reporters that the children get showers and unlimited snacks. That’s a particularly interesting claim, since the Justice Department recently argued in court that the administration shouldn’t be required to provide detained children with soap, toothbrushes, or sleeping facilities beyond concrete floors and foil blankets.
In short, we don’t know where they’re moving these kids; and we don’t know if the new facilities (or the old one so many have been returned to) will be any improvement on the horrifying reports of mucus-covered, sick, filthy children falling asleep during interviews with lawyers because an office chair was more comfortable than their sleeping arrangements; and the guy directly in charge of the situation is resigning, leading to further upheaval.