Border Patrol sued over immigrant detention conditions

The ACLU and other immigrant rights groups are asking a federal court to clean up Border Patrol detention facilities in Arizona, arguing Wednesday that illegal immigrants are held for too long, kept in cold, smelly cells, starved and denied medical care, and left without toilet paper or beds.

Nearly 8,000 migrants were held for three days or longer, despite the Border Patrol’s guidelines saying that the someone should be kept in custody for only 12 hours.

Accounts collected by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Center and the American Immigration Council detail food that was so bad it was inedible, guards who refused to let mothers give their children medicine, rejecting requests to speak with their home country consular officers, and overcrowding so severe that people reported having to jump from bench to bench to avoid stepping on others.

“These conditions are unjust and inhumane. They are unconstitutional,” said Nora Preciado, a lawyer at the National Immigration Law Center.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said agents are trained to look out for the welfare of detainees.

“This is consistently addressed in training and reinforced throughout an agent’s career. On a daily basis, agents make every effort to ensure that those in our custody are given food, water, and medical attention as needed,” the agency said.

The agency said it tries to investigate all misconduct accusations and is trying to make progress on detainee treatment issues.