Officers at Texas immigration detention facility accused of beatings and sexual abuse | US immigration

Officers at the massive immigration detention camp at the Fort Bliss army base in Texas allegedly mistreated detainees, accusing them of beatings, sexual abuse and secretly deporting non-Mexican citizens to Mexico, according to a coalition of local and national U.S. civil rights organizations.

In a 19-page letter addressed to senior government officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and the Fort Bliss military command, the coalition accuses officers at the immigrant detention facility on the base, called Camp East Montana, of “violating agency policies and standards, as well as legal and constitutional protections.”

Lawyers called for the immediate closure of the camp, where more than 2,700 detainees are being held in a tent complex.

“In light of these violations, we call for an end to the detention of immigrants at Fort Bliss,” said the letter, signed by eight organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, Estrella del Paso, Texas Civil Rights Project and Las Amerika Immigrant Advocacy Center.

letter It was addressed to ICE acting director Todd Lyons and others and copied to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) inspector general’s office and the Senate armed services committee.

ICE officials in El Paso referred media inquiries to DHS, which denied all allegations.

“Any allegations of ‘inhumane’ conditions in ICE detention facilities are absolutely false. No detainees are beaten or mistreated,” DHS deputy secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement.

The letter is based on sworn testimony from more than 45 detainees; Some describe masked agents telling them to “jump” the barrier or wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and cross from the U.S. into Mexico with imprisonment if they fail to do so.

According to the letter, ICE officers are picking up some non-Mexican citizens, primarily asylum seekers from Cuba and Guatemala, shackling them and transporting them to the desert border crossing in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, an hour west of El Paso.

When the detainees arrived at the border, they told defenders, they were greeted by masked police officers who allegedly ordered them to climb the border wall and cross into Mexico, bypassing all legal deportation procedures and third-country agreements.

“Masked people sometimes beat people to get them to jump over the wall, even if they don’t want to,” said “Eduardo,” a Cuban detainee who was ordered deported and went by a pseudonym in his letter. He claimed officers told him that if he did not cross into Mexico, he would be charged with federal crimes and sent to a prison in “Africa or El Salvador.”

McLaughlin warned that unauthorized border crossers face the possibility of being sent to various countries, not just their own.

“If you break our laws and come to our country illegally, you can send yourself to many third countries,” he said. “Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States. These third-country agreements, which provide due process under the U.S. Constitution, are vital to the security of our homeland and the American people.”

The letter was: first reported The newspaper said it “independently obtained internal ICE records confirming that four Cubans resisted deportation on or about the dates they say the incidents occurred,” adding that the Post “could not confirm other details about the allegations because detainees had little opportunity to document their experiences.” Also cited was the lack of media access to the camp at the massive military base in El Paso.

McLaughlin also released a statement to the Post denying any mistreatment or deprivation of constitutional rights, saying detainees have access to proper meals, medical treatment and showers, as well as access to lawyers and their families.

But the letter from the advocacy groups cites allegations of “excessive force” at the Camp East Montana facility, where guards allegedly used sexual violence to enforce discipline.

“Isaac,” a Cuban citizen who used a pseudonym for the purposes of the letter, said in an affidavit that guards at the camp, who refused to sign a voluntary deportation form, slammed his head against the wall several times, which was very painful and humiliating, after an officer “grabbed my testicles between his fingers and crushed them,” according to the letter.

In another incident, a teenager identified as “Samuel” described how one police officer “grabbed my testicles and crushed them hard,” while another “forced his fingers deep into my ears.” The letter stated that he was reportedly beaten unconscious by guards for turning off a light in his residence.

According to the letter, “Samuel” had broken teeth and testicular trauma that required hospitalization; It is also alleged that he was billed for the ambulance ride required to treat injuries allegedly inflicted by the guards.

The letter also states that the facility fails to meet basic human needs. The soft-sided tents, which house 72 people per unit, reportedly had a plumbing fault.

Detainees described sewage overflowing from toilets and showers, filling sleeping rooms and dining areas with water contaminated with feces and urine. The letter claims that in some cases they are forced to use their own clothes to clean up waste due to a lack of cleaning supplies.

Medical negligence has also been defined as “deliberate indifference.” The letter details cases where diabetics were denied insulin for days, causing them to faint, and cases where patients with high blood pressure were ignored until they suffered visible medical crises. It is stated that food rations were “fist-sized” and often spoiled, leading to rapid weight loss among detainees.

In response to the Guardian’s request for comment, McLaughlin said detainees had full access to legal advice, hygiene facilities and dietitian-approved meals. He added that ICE provides comprehensive medical care that exceeds what many immigrants have previously experienced.

“No lawbreaker in the history of human civilization has ever been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States. Get a grip,” he said.

When later asked for further comment on each of the allegations and government policy questions mentioned in this article, DHS responded, “No.”

But Eunice Hyunhye Cho, senior counsel for the ACLU National Prison Project, said her organization and others have received numerous complaints about the failure to provide adequate care for immigrants detained at Fort Bliss.

He said the lack of external oversight, coupled with the detention facility’s claim that it had cut off detainees’ access to the outside world, led to the accusations detailed in the letter.

“Placing thousands of people in tent camps in the middle of the desert, on a military base without adequate personnel, was a recipe for humanitarian disaster,” Cho said. “Shockingly, but unsurprisingly, this nightmare has come true.”

Local leaders and immigrant rights advocates have previously condemned the vulnerability of detainees in tent-like conditions and expressed concerns about possible human rights violations.

Texas congresswoman Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, demanded immediate transparency from DHS, explaining that they had been told of “dangerous and inhumane” conditions at the detention facility and describing it as a worsening “public health hazard.”