A recent story from the Associated Press highlighted reports of poor conditions at a Texas family detention center, including instances of adults fighting children for clean water.
The report sheds light on conditions detained immigrant families are facing after the Trump administration’s directive to increase ICE arrests. Human rights advocates says it’s just going to get worse.
Texas Standard spoke with AP journalist Valerie Gonzalez, who has been covering this story. She spoke about how these conditions came to light, how the medical needs of children being held are not being met and why the Trump administration is seeking to do away with the decades old Flores Agreement. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: We’re learning about the experiences of people being held in these two Texas detention centers thanks to immigration advocates and a pending lawsuit. What are some of the things we’re hearing they’re experiencing?
Valerie Gonzalez: Well, like you mentioned, one of the main concerns seems to be water – either not having enough of it or not having a clean supply. These statements were made by families to these attorneys who visited them since March. And so we’re not sure exactly if the conditions are the same.
We did reach out to the entities who are involved. We have not received a response. It’s typical, though, when there’s litigation not to receive a response. We did not get one from ICE either… Again, reminded us about the policy.
But there was also concerns for medical care. There was one child who had a fall. RAICES said that they were not given a comprehensive exam to make sure that they did not have a concussion. There was another child who has swollen feet. He was 12 years old, and he said he was just staying off of them because he couldn’t get any more thorough exams to help the swelling go down.
So those are the concerns that advocates are raising in this motion that they’ve just filed on Friday.
It’s been hard in cases to really determine exactly what conditions are like because access has been limited, even for attorneys and advocates. Is that right?
That’s correct. It’s not anyone who could just go and visit families there. There has to be another way in and another way to get into detention facilities where children are housed is through the Flores Settlement Agreement. Some attorneys used that to receive a tour and to speak with children directly.
The legal advocates explained that the way that they were able to use the Flores Settlement Agreement is because, for example, the Center for Human Rights and constitutional law, they have this ongoing agreement where they can work with monitors to inspect these facilities – make sure that they are complying to the terms of the agreement. And through that agreement, there creates a pipeline for accountability.
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Well, I’m glad you brought the Flores Agreement up, because is it something that the Trump administration has actually been pushing back upon? Is it something they want to overturn, or just in action have sort of challenged?
They do want to terminate it. It is something that they have asked for in court filings.
This case extends back to, I believe, the ’80s. This agreement really was formalized in the ’90s, though. And the agreement is allowing this monitoring of the federal government until the federal government can create its own policy and its own regulations. That would conform to the terms that are already set forth in the Flores Settlement Agreement.
The Trump administration is saying, well, we have those policies in place already, we don’t need this. And of course, the immigration advocates are saying, well, even though it is in place, and these problems are still happening, it is still necessary to keep it because, as it says in their motion, the plaintiffs did not settle for policymaking, they settled for rulemaking, which would be more enforceable.
So let’s talk about the future, Valerie. You guys are also looking at what Trump has put forward in his so-called “big, beautiful bill.” What does that say about immigrant detention?
Well, it is setting aside a lot of money for increasing detention spaces, but it has also created some language that could mean that families, including children, could be detained indefinitely, something that currently the Flores Settlement Agreement would prohibit. So the legal advocates are concerned that if this bill passes and the agreement is terminated, then it would allow for that detention to be indefinite.
Another provision of the bill is that the facilities that house these families may be licensed, but could also be unlicensed. That’s also part of the bill, and the advocates are very concerned that without Flores, these protections for the children would diminish.
