New photos show overcrowded migrant detention facilities that Democrats have decried as 'inhumane'

Overcrowding in a Welasco, TX, Border Patrol station. — (Image credit: Office of the Inspector General)

Newly released photos from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General show overcrowded migrant detention facilities in Texas.

The facilities have been decried as "inhumane" by some lawmakers.

A review by the inspector general's office found that of the 8,000 detainees in Border Patrol custody during their visit, 3,400 had been held for longer than the permitted 72 hours, including 31 percent of the 2,669 children. Of those 3,400 people, 1,500 had been held for longer than 10 days.

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The review and photos come just one day after more than a dozen House Democrats visited two other facilities in Texas and spoke of how detainees faced horrid conditions and treatment.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.