Trump Is Holding Kids In Cages
The Trump administration is locking away unprecedented numbers of immigrant children and families in cages. These detention camps are located throughout the country but are especially common in Texas, with locations in Tornillo, McAllen, El Paso, and Rio Grande Valley.
While many of these facilities were first opened up to ten years before Trump took office, the Trump administration’s decision to embrace the Reforming American Immigration to get a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act has endeavored to reduce the numbers of legal immigrants by up to 50%, resulting in more immigrants being held in detention centers like the one below.
According to immigration advocates, elected officials, and on-site medical personnel, these facilities are vastly overcrowded and are in no condition to meet today’s health standards. Some detention camps are reported to have standing-room-only. Children can go days without showering or a hot meal. Five separate facilities have been found to give these families wet wipes to clean themselves. Children had few spare clothes and no laundry facilities. These kids are being fed bologna sandwiches, which causes constipation and other health problems.
And when inspectors arrive, migrants are banging on the cells and pressing notes up against windows for help.
In addition, Border Patrol agents have been taking advantage of the situation. Democratic lawmakers have pushed for an investigation into Border Patrol Facebook groups in which agents joke about migrants dying and threaten members of Congress.
Secretary of Homeland Secretary Kevin McAleenan acknowledged these reports when he tweeted, “Reporting this week highlighted disturbing & inexcusable social media activity that allegedly includes active Border Patrol personnel. These statements are completely unacceptable, especially if made by those sworn to uphold the DHS.gov mission, our values & standards of conduct.”
Secretary McAleenan is one of those responsible for the detainment camps.
Moreover, migrants are being denied flu vaccines for their families. At least three children held in these detention centers at the southern border have died, in part from the flu. The government is not vaccinating immigrant families and has no plans to do so ahead of the next flu season.
Dr. Jonathan Winickoff tried defending the Border Protection agency in an email claiming, “I can tell you from personal experience that child deaths are rare events.”
But fellow Dr. Julie Linton responded by saying, “There are several things that we can do to prevent deaths and infection. Those do not include holding children in cage-like facilities and warehouses.”
In addition, thousands of immigrant children have said that they were sexually abused in these U.S. detention centers. This includes fondling and kissing minors, watching them as they showered, and raping them. Over the past four years, the federal government has received more than 4,500 complaints about the sexual abuse of immigrant children. The number of complaints increased after Trump enacted a policy separating migrant families from their children.
These heartless policies are angering many Mexican-Americans, including Eastside freshman Victorian Barron.
“It is an abomination that Trump dared to put these helpless children and their families in these cages because of their Mexican heritage,” she says.
“It’s disgusting,” agrees Spanish teacher Mrs. Gottschalk.
