A photo from the Office of the Inspector General's report on overcrowded detention facilities.
Reports of overcrowding, filthy conditions, and a lack of proper food and medicine have sparked the most recent round of outrage about the treatment of detained immigrants at the border. A Congressional tour of El Paso facilities on Monday added to the grim picture. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that guards told the women at one site to drink out of the toilet bowl due to a lack of water, while Rep. Joaquin Castro took videos and photos of the cramped cells. On Tuesday, the Office of the Inspector General released a report on Border Patrol and its facilities, highlighting the overcrowded conditions, prolonged detention of minors, and a failure to meet their own standards.
On top of all that, at least six children have died in U.S. custody since December, as well as a 20-month-old baby who died shortly after being released.
It might seem odd to celebrate Independence Day when your country is running concentration camps, which is probably why the Tennessee Activist Coalition organized a rally around the issue, slated for July 4 at noon. The Facebook event is titled Kids in Cages, and if the name seems jarring, consider that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently released drawings by formerly detained children that showed kids locked up in cages.
The rally takes place in Legislative Plaza, just a 10-minute walk away from the Let Freedom Sing! festivities on Lower Broadway, which also gets started at noon.
