CHAIRMAN CUMMINGS' OPENING STATEMENT

PURPOSE

The Committee will examine troubling new revelations, including reports of unaccompanied children in overcrowded and filthy conditions at Clint, Texas, and other facilities; reports that current and former Border Patrol agents created a racist, sexist, and xenophobic Facebook group; and a report issued last week by the DHS Inspector General warning of “dangerous overcrowding” and “prolonged detention of children.”

BACKGROUND

Between April 2018 and June 2018, the Trump Administration separated at least 2,800 children from their parents at the southern border under the “zero tolerance” policy that Attorney General Jeff Sessions instituted in April 2018 and a related policy that DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen instituted a few weeks later to refer all parents who made unauthorized border crossings for prosecution. In January 2019, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report finding that the Trump Administration may have separated “thousands” of additional children before the zero tolerance policy went into effect. In addition, the Trump Administration recently admitted to separating an additional 700 children from their parents at the border after June 2018.Recent reports have identified deteriorating conditions in border facilities where children are being detained. For example, reports from the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security have highlighted overcrowded, unhealthy, and unsafe conditions in these facilities, and they have warned that these issues need to be addressed immediately to mitigate health and safety risks. Other recent reports have raised concerns about racist, sexist, and xenophobic views expressed by some Border Patrol officers regarding detained immigrants through a secret Facebook group.