The acting head of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday resigned amid an uproar over the discovery of migrant children being held in pitiful conditions at one of the agency’s stations in Texas.
Acting US CBP Commissioner John Sanders’ departure deepened the sense of crisis and added to the rapid turnover inside the agencies responsible for enforcing US President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration priorities as the US deals with record numbers of migrant families coming across the border.
In a message to employees, Sanders said that he would step down on Friday next week. He did not give a reason for leaving.
Photo: AFP
“Although I will leave it to you to determine whether I was successful, I can unequivocally say that helping support the amazing men and women of CBP has been the most fulfilling and satisfying opportunity of my career,” he said.
Hours after Sanders’ departure became public, two officials said that he was being replaced by Mark Morgan, who was named acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just last month.
The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the move and declined to be identified.
In an interview last week, Sanders blamed the problems in detention on a lack of money and called on the US Congress to pass a US$4.5 billion emergency funding bill to address the crisis.
The US House of Representatives approved the legislation on Tuesday night, setting up a showdown with the US Senate where Republican leaders plan approval of a different, bipartisan bill this week that does not offer as many protections and services for migrants.
At the White House, Trump said that he did not ask for Sanders’ resignation — adding that he does not think he has ever spoken to the man — but that he is “moving some people around into different locations” amid the crisis.
While activists welcomed Sanders’ departure, Trump defended US border authorities.
“The laws are so bad, and the asylum rules and laws are so bad that our Border Patrol people, who are so incredible, aren’t allowed to do their jobs,” Trump said.
The unprecedented surge of migrant families has left US immigration detention centers severely overcrowded and taxed the government’s ability to provide medical care and other attention.
Six children have died since September last year after being detained by border agents.
After he was picked to lead ICE, Morgan showed a willingness to deport families during enforcement sweeps. However, past Trump immigration officials hesitated over concerns about logistics and the public’s reaction.
The Trump administration has faced a barrage of criticism over conditions inside the Border Patrol facility in Clint, Texas: inadequate food, lack of medical care, no soap and older children trying to care for toddlers.
In one case reported in Clint, attorneys said that a two-year-old boy without a diaper was being watched by older children. Several youngsters had the flu. Many were separated from extended family members like aunts and uncles who brought them to the border; others were teenage mothers with babies.
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