Attorneys representing migrant children are describing harsh treatment in "prison-like" detention centers across the country as the Trump administration requested a federal judge to terminate existing protections guaranteed by the government, according to a new report.
CBS News reported different accounts from children, including one who developed a rash after being prevented from changing his underwear for four days. Another one, the report added, began hitting himself in the head after being overcome with despair.
"I heard one officer say about us 'they smell like s--t," said a detainee, according to a court filing picked up by the report. "And another officer responded: 'They are s--t."
The administration is seeking to address protections mandated by the Flores Settlement Agreement, claiming that it encourages immigration and interferes with its ability to dictate policy. Judge Dolly Gee, in California, is expected to issue a ruling on the matter on August 8.
Attorneys claimed that even with the agreement in place children are held in "unsafe and unsanitary" conditions, including being held in tents and airports for weeks even though they shouldn't be kept under Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody for more than 72 hours.
In this context, the Trump administration instructed CBP to find alternative methods to deal with minors arriving in the country. Last week, it directed the agency to offer migrant teens the possibility of being repatriated to their home countries rather than being sent to a government-run shelter.
CBS News reported that the move changes longstanding U.S. immigration policy, which required to send unaccompanied migrant children to the Department of Health and Human Services if they came from countries other than Mexico and Canada. The agency oversees a network of facilities where minors stay until they turn 18 or can be placed with a sponsor, historically a U.S.-based relative.
The directive applies to children who are 14 or older. If the teens take the option, immigration officials will comply. If they want to stay they will be sent to the shelters. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the policy change is a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which provides tens of billions to immigration agencies to ramp up deportation policies.
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