Border detention facilities a ‘ticking time bomb,’ says inspector general’s report

Overcrowding at border detention facilities is “a ticking time bomb,” according to an inspector general’s report released Tuesday that described near-riots with migrants frustrated at their conditions.

Investigators reported multiple instances of migrant men intentionally clogging toilets to try to disrupt operations, forcing their release from cells — then refusing to be returned once the clog was cleared.

In one instance a riot squad had to be called in to threaten force, the inspector general said.

The report comes as tensions rise in Washington, where Democrats blame the Trump administration and have opened an investigation into what they call inhumane tactics.

House Oversight Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat, demanded acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan and acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan appear next week to explain things.

“The Trump administration’s actions at the southern border are grotesque and dehumanizing,” he said.

He was particularly incensed by reports of a secret Facebook group involving offensive posts among Border Patrol agents, and fellow Democrats’ trip to the border Monday, where they said one woman told them she’d been told to get her drinking water from a toilet.

CBP refuted that claim and the inspector general’s report does not bear it out either. Indeed, the report contains one photo of a family detention cell where a cooler, bottles and paper cups are visible amid the overcrowded conditions.

But the overall tenor of the report is of a situation out of hand, with tensions high amid situations that bordered on riots, such as after one instance where migrants clogged the toilet in their cell.

“At one facility, detainees who had been moved from their cell during cleaning refused to return to their cell. Border Patrol brought in its special operations team to demonstrate it was prepared to use force if necessary,” the inspector general said. “Additionally, detainees have attempted to escape while removed from their cells during maintenance.”

One CBP manager told auditors the situation was “a ticking time bomb.”

During the inspector general’s visits to border facilities last month nearly 2,700 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) were in custody. Of those, 31% had been there longer than 72 hours, breaking the terms of the Flores settlement governing treatment of UAC.

Federal standards also require children be served hot meals — though at two facilities they were only fed sandwiches and snacks for their meals.

In its official response to the report, Homeland Security complained that the numbers are too overwhelming, but insisted progress had been made.

Some 2,800 UACs were in custody as of June 7, but the total had been cut to fewer than 1,000 by the end of the month.

CBP is the front-line border operation. Its goal is to arrest and process migrants as quickly as possible, then either transfer them to another agency or release them directly into the community.

Its facilities were designed to process single adult migrants from Mexico, who were usually held for a few hours at most. But the surge of migrant children and families from Central America, who sometimes have to be held at the border for days or even weeks, have strained the system.

CBP says it’s at the mercy of the numbers and the other agencies.

For example, the federal Health and Human Services Department, which is legally required to take custody of UACs, had essentially run out of bed space last month. That situation should be alleviated with the new $4.6 billion emergency spending bill President Trump signed into law Monday.

Adults and family migrants are supposed to be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but ICE is also overcapacity and Congress refused to provide more money for that agency in the emergency spending bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to Mr. Trump this week asking him to make good on promises in a handshake deal she struck to allow the bill to pass.

“I am deeply concerned that the legislation does not go far enough to prioritize the safety, health and well-being of migrant children and families,” Mrs. Pelosi said in her letter.

The California Democrat laid out three items that she and Vice President Mike Pence agreed on. One is a demand for an updated policy for sanitation and supplies for migrants, another is a request that Congress be notified of deaths of children in the Health Department’s custody, and the third involves HHS use of unlicensed “influx” shelters.