Feinstein Statement on Alleged Conditions at El Centro

Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on a lawsuit filed in the Central District of California that alleges mistreatment of immigrant families:

“A lawsuit filed in the Central District of California alleges terrible treatment of immigrant families at El Centro, and my staff plans to visit and inspect the facility this week.

“Court filings detail that Customs and Border Protection has forced immigrants to drink dirty water and eat frozen food, denied them clean clothes and forced them to sleep shivering on the floor. These conditions likely violate the Flores agreement, which sets minimum standards for facilities that hold immigrant children.

“The Trump administration is working to undo the Flores agreement so it can hold all immigrants in these unacceptable conditions without consequences. It’s all part of a dangerous plan to further the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.

“Before the Flores agreement and my law on unaccompanied minors, children were routinely denied food and water. They were shackled and held in prison, some in solitary confinement.

“We have an obligation to treat children and families humanely. We can’t look past the connection between the president’s hateful words about immigrants ‘infesting’ America and ‘sending them the hell back to their country’ and the actions his administration is taking to hold them in deplorable conditions.”

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