Disturbing new photos taken within the last week show hundreds of migrant children sleeping outside on rocks and dirt with just a Mylar blanket to keep them warm.
EXCLUSIVE: Photos show migrant children lying in rocks and dirt, covered with Mylar blankets as they waited outside an overcrowded US Border Patrol station https://t.co/17rMXksRHs
pic.twitter.com/hRJoFIX3GK— CNN (@CNN) May 14, 2019
CNN obtained the images first, confirming they come from a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas. Per the news station, the photos were taken by a source affiliated with the network. Shortly after the photos made airwaves, a representative from the Department of Homeland Security released a statement admitting some centers cannot withstand the influx of immigrants.
"As multiple DHS officials have been warning for months, the border security and humanitarian crisis continues to worsen. Current facilities and funding are inadequate for migrant flows," a portion of the remarks read.
The spokesman revealed Customs and Border Protection have asked for additional resources from President Donald Trump and assured they are doing "everything they can" to protect the safety of the individuals at the center.
"Again, Border Patrol agents are doing everything they can to protect and care for migrants in their temporary custody. Border Patrol stations are simply not equipped to handle the number of families and children arriving along the southwest border, and we need Congress to act to provide immediate relief," the spokesperson said.
BuzzFeed reports that as of April, Border Patrol has held 98,9777 immigrants captive, with the bulk of them being families. The news site spoke with one temporarily housed at McAllen, and sentiments of mistreatments was the general consensus from the victim.
"We were mistreated," Honduran detainee G. Hernandez said to BuzzFeed News in Spanish. "I thought the US treated people better, but they treated us so bad."
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The 36-year-old continued: "There wasn't enough room for everyone to sleep on the pavement inside the tents Border Patrol had set up, so some mothers and children had to sleep outside. During the weekend it began to rain and people got drenched while trying to sleep."
Her son, Oscar, added: "We were all piled on top of each other on the pavement. We hardly slept. We weren't allowed to shower either."
Per Hernandez's account, their meals consisted of soggy ham sandwiches offered twice each day.
A Border Patrol official appeared to show zero remorse for the migrants' well being when questioned by BuzzFeed about the conditions:
"Well, they wanted to come here," the employee retorted. "We're just dealing with it."
According to The Hill, the Trump administration has asked for another $4.5 billion from Congress to assess more concerns at the border and humanitarian obligations. Before Congress, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan confessed that it's unlikely these immigrants will stay in the United States once their trials conclude.
"We don't have room to hold them, we don't have the authority to remove them fairly and expeditiously, and we are not likely — and they are not likely to be allowed to remain in the country at the end of their immigration proceedings. The status quo is not acceptable."
This is not the only border scandal to make news this week. On Wednesday, a Guatemalan child who was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border passed away after falling illm making them the fourth immigrant child to die after being held captive at the U.S.-Mexico border.
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