Abusing Kids

Fleeing violence and poverty in Central America, tens of thousands of children come to the United States each year and are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

The report (pdf) from the ACLU and University of Chicago Law School says detained children have faced "physical and psychological abuse, unsanitary and inhumane living conditions, isolation from family members, extended periods of detention, and denial of access to legal and medical services."

The amount of children who have come forward about various forms of abuse suggests that such treatment by U.S. officials is commonplace. The report notes that:

• 1. a quarter of kids reported physical abuse, including sexual assault and beatings by CBP agents;
• 2. more than half reported verbal abuse such death threats, and denial of necessary medical care, including cases that led to children requiring hospitalization; and
• 3. 80 percent reported inadequate food and water.

"Beyond the misconduct detailed," the report points out that these "documents are shocking for the independent reason that they do not contain any evidence of disciplinary action or other meaningful accountability for abusive CBP officials," in spite of the fact that DHS has multiple internal oversight agencies.

"The misconduct demonstrated in these records is breathtaking, as is the government's complete failure to hold officials who abuse their power accountable," said ACLU Border Litigation Project staff attorney Mitra Ebadolahi. "These documents provide a glimpse into a federal immigration enforcement system marked by brutality and lawlessness."

This was during the Obama administration, not Trump's.

https://www.worsecommondreams.org/news/2018/05/23/documents-reveal-pervasive-abuse-immigrant-children-under-obama-fears-its-even-worse