While the Biden administration has made significant steps in getting unaccompanied minors out of dangerous Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities and to Health and Human Services (HHS) custody to be placed with a U.S. sponsor, 17 court testimonials submitted by children held at so-called emergency influx facilities show the administration still has significantly more work to do.
Children sent to these unlicensed sites “described crowded living conditions, spoiled food, lack of clean clothes and struggles with depression,” Reuters reported. "A lot of the girls here cry a lot," a 17-year-old girl said according to the report. She was being held at Fort Bliss in Texas, the site of a former World War II internment camp for Japanese Americans. "A lot of them end up having to talk to someone because they have thoughts of cutting themselves."
A second 17-year-old girl said in a court document dated June 4 that she was held in CBP custody for 11 days (nearly four times the legal limit) before being sent to the Fort Bliss camp. While her uncle has submitted his fingerprints as part of the sponsoring process, there was no indication as of June 4 of when she’d be released. As of the document date, she’d been at Fort Bliss for two months.
“Because I’ve been here so long, I’ve been getting a lot of anxiety, and my blood pressure has gone up,” the girl said in the document. “I’ve never had that problem before. My blood pressure makes me dizzy and gives me a headache. One time about a month ago I fainted because of my anxiety.” She said she “used to be able to cope with my anxiety and breathe through it, but now I feel like I’ve given up. I feel like I’ll never get out of here.”
Reuters reports that another child at Fort Bliss, a 13-year-old girl, had been placed on suicide watch after being held at the camp for nearly two months. The report disturbingly said that she had in fact arrived to southern border with her dad, but had become separated from him when trying to cross the river. Meanwhile, other children talked about the difficulty in finding out information about their cases, or even just trying to talk to a lawyer.
“There is no one here I can talk to about my case,” said a 17-year-old being held at a convention center in Dallas, Reuters reported. “There’s also no one here I can talk to when I’m feeling sad. There’s no one here; I just talk to God. It helps me and I cry. It would help if I could have a Bible.” The 17-year-old who was waiting for her uncle at the Fort Bliss camp said she also hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about her case. “I have not received a list of free legal service providers,” she said. “I have not talked to an attorney since I have been here.”
In a welcome move last month, a Biden administration memorandum expanded access to legal representation for unaccompanied minors. Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) President Wendy Young said that despite “life-and-death stakes” they face, “year after year the majority of unaccompanied children do not have attorneys. This must end now.” In late March, the Biden administration also announced policy speeding up the safe release of children from HHS custody. “If this is successfully executed, it will have a great impact on the number of kids in custody,” tweeted Bridget Cambria, an immigration attorney and advocate for detained children.
Advocates had widely criticized the opening of these so-called influx facilities. Under public pressure, it reversed a decision to reopen one such camp in Homestead, Florida. “I’ve given the Biden administration credit where credit is due on getting kids out of Border Patrol custody and reducing the number of kids in shelters, but the fact that these conditions have persisted for months now in the ‘emergency influx shelters’ is not acceptable,” American Immigration Council policy counsel Aaron Reichlin-Melnick tweeted about the Reuters report.
Children sent to these unlicensed sites “described crowded living conditions, spoiled food, lack of clean clothes and struggles with depression,” Reuters reported. "A lot of the girls here cry a lot," a 17-year-old girl said according to the report. She was being held at Fort Bliss in Texas, the site of a former World War II internment camp for Japanese Americans. "A lot of them end up having to talk to someone because they have thoughts of cutting themselves."
A second 17-year-old girl said in a court document dated June 4 that she was held in CBP custody for 11 days (nearly four times the legal limit) before being sent to the Fort Bliss camp. While her uncle has submitted his fingerprints as part of the sponsoring process, there was no indication as of June 4 of when she’d be released. As of the document date, she’d been at Fort Bliss for two months.
“Because I’ve been here so long, I’ve been getting a lot of anxiety, and my blood pressure has gone up,” the girl said in the document. “I’ve never had that problem before. My blood pressure makes me dizzy and gives me a headache. One time about a month ago I fainted because of my anxiety.” She said she “used to be able to cope with my anxiety and breathe through it, but now I feel like I’ve given up. I feel like I’ll never get out of here.”
Reuters reports that another child at Fort Bliss, a 13-year-old girl, had been placed on suicide watch after being held at the camp for nearly two months. The report disturbingly said that she had in fact arrived to southern border with her dad, but had become separated from him when trying to cross the river. Meanwhile, other children talked about the difficulty in finding out information about their cases, or even just trying to talk to a lawyer.
“There is no one here I can talk to about my case,” said a 17-year-old being held at a convention center in Dallas, Reuters reported. “There’s also no one here I can talk to when I’m feeling sad. There’s no one here; I just talk to God. It helps me and I cry. It would help if I could have a Bible.” The 17-year-old who was waiting for her uncle at the Fort Bliss camp said she also hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about her case. “I have not received a list of free legal service providers,” she said. “I have not talked to an attorney since I have been here.”
In a welcome move last month, a Biden administration memorandum expanded access to legal representation for unaccompanied minors. Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) President Wendy Young said that despite “life-and-death stakes” they face, “year after year the majority of unaccompanied children do not have attorneys. This must end now.” In late March, the Biden administration also announced policy speeding up the safe release of children from HHS custody. “If this is successfully executed, it will have a great impact on the number of kids in custody,” tweeted Bridget Cambria, an immigration attorney and advocate for detained children.
Advocates had widely criticized the opening of these so-called influx facilities. Under public pressure, it reversed a decision to reopen one such camp in Homestead, Florida. “I’ve given the Biden administration credit where credit is due on getting kids out of Border Patrol custody and reducing the number of kids in shelters, but the fact that these conditions have persisted for months now in the ‘emergency influx shelters’ is not acceptable,” American Immigration Council policy counsel Aaron Reichlin-Melnick tweeted about the Reuters report.