U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now be required to allow doctors into detention facilities to help migrant children. The order came down from a federal judge over the weekend.
Illegal immigration has become a hot-button political issue.
About 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants entered the U.S. in 2017. About 47 percent were Mexican immigrants, while others came from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, as well as Asian countries.
It’s led to some charged moments.
Donald Trump’s campaign promise to “build the wall” may be his most consistent position. While the merits of such a wall are debatable , Republican lawmakers are still largely in favor of it.
Migrants are being rounded up at the border.
CBP takes them into custody during patrols near the Mexican border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. In some cases, authorities have faced intense criticism for separating children from their parents.
In most cases, migrants face a quick trial.
Since they’ve basically been caught red-handed, and aren’t in a position to hire a lawyer, they’re generally taken into the courtroom and assigned to a detention center in a nearby area.
What are conditions like?
About the only thing Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on here is that conditions are camp-like. But whether you think it’s more like a concentration camp or a summer camp probably has something to do with your politics.
Donald Trump has ridden this wave so far.
Conditions in these detention centers are reportedly so egregious that lawmakers have been forced to intervene. Prosecutors asked a federal court to hold Trump’s administration in contempt in an effort to improve conditions.
A federal judge has made a ruling.
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee says that health professionals need to be allowed into these facilities as soon as possible to ensure that conditions are “safe and sanitary” for the children housed within.
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It doesn’t apply to all facilities.
While detention centers are located all along the border, this ruling only applies to CBP facilities in the El Paso and Rio Grande Valley areas in Texas. This means that facilities in California, Arizona and New Mexico are unaffected.
It’s still a big step.
It represents a strong rebuke to the way the Trump administration has handled these facilities so far. “The children, including infants and expectant mothers, are dirty, cold, hungry and sleep-deprived,” said federal prosecutors prior to the ruling.
What do you think?
There are a number of issues at play here: illegal immigration, criminal justice, along with the treatment of children. Things can get heated with political debates, so let’s try to be respectful here…but let us know what you think in the comments section!
