In A Few Weeks, Tangerine, Bush/Cheney, Poppy Bush and Ronnie Reagan Will Have Let This Fester -- For Four Decades, Now. Filed In The Time Of Edwin Meese. Deplorable.

This is deplorable, in a nation that claims to be one of ordered liberty -- and of laws -- not just venal little men.

We are approaching four full decades of active federal litigation, over whether putative asylees deserve clean bedding, clear water, toothbrushes and blankets and soap. And adequate food -- fit for human consumption. And warm clothes. Dammit. [Here's the latest, out of LA -- and the frothy hard right wonders why there are. . . protests?!] From the letter, then -- just filed:

. . .[T]the CBP Settlement recognizes the exponentially greater harm that arises when violations of the Settlement occur throughout a child’s prolonged detention. Per Section VIII. of the CBP Settlement, “If a situation occurs in which a class member remains in CBP custody for longer than 72 hours, CBP shall take prompt additional steps to ensure conditions remain safe and sanitary.”

Further, the CBP Settlement recognizes that detention in CBP facilities, stations, and other unlicensed facilities is inherently harmful and therefore requires that children should be promptly removed from holding facilities not designed for children: “CBP shall transfer all juveniles who are not immediately returned to their country of origin to a Juvenile Priority Facility as expeditiously as possible, in general, within 24 hours of arrival at a non-priority facility, but no longer than 48 hours after arrival at a non-priority facility.” CBP Settlement Exh. 4(d) at 7. Three of the four families with accompanied children counsel interviewed at Ursula had been at the facility for six or more days. GBA Dec. ¶ 5 (9 days); FO Dec. ¶ 5 (10 days); MRL ¶ 4 (6 days). Families at Dilley detention reported stays as long as a month at the El Paso CBP Station. See FY Dec. ¶ 6 (one month); MM Dec. ¶ 7 (three weeks). The harm caused by each of the violations described below is compounded by the egregious lengths of stay these children are forced to endure. . . .

The CBP Settlement Agreement also requires that class members be able to ask for (and receive) visits with separated family members in the same facility. CBP Settlement at 14, § VII (8)(B)(3). A Class Member at Dilley reported that at the El Paso CBP station they were held apart from family and “allowed only twenty minutes every five days in a freezing room to see each other.” MM Dec. ¶ 15.

Families at Ursula reported being separated and being granted family visitation, in a crowded and non-private area. This separation was extremely traumatic for the children. . . .

The CBP Settlement explicitly requires that CBP provide toothbrushes and toothpaste daily. CBP Settlement at 13, § VII (7) (3). . . . Families at Ursula reported there was no soap available at the handwashing stations. See FO Dec. ¶ 12; MRL Dec. ¶ 15. They also reported insufficient privacy in the restrooms. See MRL Dec. ¶ 14; FO Dec. ¶ 11; MH Dec. ¶ 15. Similarly, families at Dilley reported that there was insufficient privacy in the restrooms and they were denied showers and clean clothes for up to a week at the El Paso CBP station. See FY Dec. ¶12; MM Dec. ¶ 20. . . .

Maintaining facilities at a consistently cold temperature is a violation the CBP Settlement, which requires adequate temperature control in facilities holding children. See also CBP Settlement § VII (5)(1). Under the CBP Settlement, class members must be provided additional clothing, blankets, and beanies for warmth. CBP Settlement § VII (5)(B). However, many children in several CBP facilities reported experiencing extreme cold. At Ursula, families were told that medical care for headaches was not available and that some medications could not be prescribed. See MH Dec. ¶¶ 7, 18. They also reported extremely cold temperatures and that they were not given adequately warm clothing. See MM Dec. ¶ 10; MRL Dec. ¶ 12. At Dilley, families reported freezing temperatures in El Paso, so cold that the children became sick. See MM Dec. ¶ 8; FY Dec. ¶ 7. . . .

What is wrong with these ICE / contractor guards?! Damn them. Out.

नमस्ते