Durbin Statement on CBP Whistleblower Alleging Systemic Failures at Agency to Ensure Proper Oversight of Medical Care Contractor

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement regarding a report by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employee whistleblower alleging years of deficient medical care at CBP facilities and CBP’s failure to ensure proper oversight of Loyal Source, the agency’s medical care contractor:

“The CBP employee whistleblower’s allegations raise serious concerns. As outlined in the report, it appears that CBP failed to hold Loyal Source accountable for unsupported invoicing, severe understaffing, unlicensed medical personnel, privacy breaches, and failure to report allegations of sexual harassment. These systemic failures to conduct proper oversight of its contractor severely impacted the quality of medical care available to individuals in CBP’s custody, endangering vulnerable migrants such as Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, an 8-year-old girl with sickle cell and congenital heart disease who died in CBP custody in Harlingen, Texas, this May. As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue investigating this issue and take further steps as needed to better protect migrants in government custody.”

The Committee has held three DHS oversight hearings under Durbin’s leadership, as well as under the Biden Administration, the latest in March this year. In 2021, Durbin and the Committee held the first DHS oversight hearing since January 16, 2018 – the lone occasion that the Republican-controlled Committee held a DHS oversight hearing during the four years of the Trump Administration.

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