Horrific images taken at a Border Patrol “station” show migrant children and their parents sleeping on rocks and dirt, with only metallic blankets for warmth. CNN reports that “a baby bottle filled with milk can be seen in one photo next to a child sleeping outside on dirt, and in another, a woman is seen sitting on rocks leaning against a wall clutching a child.”
The “station,” which is actually a tent, is where families and others are being held as they’re being processed before presumably being moved elsewhere or released. But that’s a process that can take time—up to three days, sometimes more—and in the meantime they’re being forced to sleep on rocks and outdoors, as other images show that this tent has a roof but is open to the outdoors on either side.
The images, taken by a whistleblower with access to the area, were given to CNN, report Vanessa Yurkevich and Priscilla Alvarez. This whistleblower said they had decided to share the images because they were “disturbed,” CNN reported. "Nobody, no matter who you are, where you are from should spend an hour like this. This is the United States of America. Not in our country.”
But it is happening in our country. Rep. Nanette Barragán of California visited another processing tent in El Paso, Texas, last month, describing conditions there as filthy and totally unfit for families. Hundreds, including infants as young as 5 months old, were being jailed there at the time. Barragán said, “People are in a confined space, they’re not getting showers, their clothes are dirty, babies are not getting Pampers like they should be. These ladies were crying and telling us their stories and it was just heartbreaking.”
The Trump administration has the resources to treat asylum-seekers and other immigrants with dignity—just ask the military about the $1.5 billion in military funds it wants to instead divert to a stupid border wall—but it’s made the decision to do this instead. ”This is what the cruel Trump administration doesn’t want you to see,” tweeted Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who has been advocating for migrant children imprisoned at the state’s prison camp in Homestead. “It will keep happening if we aren’t able to be a check on Trump. If we don’t stop cruel inhumane policies, we‘ll be committing crimes against the next generation of children.”