Hundreds of migrant children were illegally kept in holding cells for days, DHS watchdog reports
The Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their families was generally panned on ethical and humanitarian grounds — but a new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) finds it was an exemplar of government incompetence, too.
More than 800 children were illegally kept in holding cells longer than the 72 hours permitted by court order, reports The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the document. One child was held in this manner for 25 days. Some of these holding cell facilities, intended for short-term use, had no beds or showers.
DHS also had no real system to keep track of children too young to speak to identify themselves or their parents. "Border Patrol does not provide pre-verbal children with wrist bracelets or other means of identification," the report says, "nor does Border Patrol fingerprint or photograph most children during processing to ensure that they can be easily linked with the proper file."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Technological failings were serious, too. Federal computer systems often cannot communicate with one another, so detained children's personal information was transferred via emailed Microsoft Word documents. "Each step of this manual process is vulnerable to human error," the DHS OIG says, "increasing the risk that a child could become lost in the system."
Worse yet, DHS claimed in June to have made a "central database" of separated children so they could be easily reunited with their families. The OIG report found no such database exists.
Finally, the OIG found border agents turned away migrants who sought asylum at legal entrances. In some cases, this prompted the would-be asylum-seekers to enter the U.S. illegally instead.
More than 400 children remained separated from their families as of early September.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claims
Speed Read Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'Another day of chaos in DC'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
6 scenic white water rafting destinations to get your heart racing
The Week Recommends Have a rip-roaring time on the water
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published