In Response to Harris Questioning, Border Patrol Commissioner Coldly Denies Responsibility for Safety of Children

Statement

At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee today, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) questioned Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Kevin McAleenan on CBP's duty to ensure the safety of children who enter their custody and are later handed off to HHS custody. Harris' questioning came on the heels of numerous reports of sexual abuse or harassment of migrant children in HHS-Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters.

HARRIS: Do you believe that you have any duty or that your agency has any duty to ensure that when you transfer these children to the custody of another agency that they will be safe?

McALEENAN: I'm mandated by law to transfer these children. I don't have an ability to question them.

HARRIS: So you don't believe that you have a duty to determine that upon transfer these children will be safe?

McALEENAN: I'm required by statute to transfer these children to HHS within 72 hours.

Harris later pressed McAleenan on the conditions that immigrant children face in CBP custody. Legal documents have revealed that children face freezing temperatures, limited access to food and water, and verbal and physical assault at these facilities. Harris also highlighted her staff's visit to the El Centro Border Patrol Station in January, where officials informed them of a policy of taking away toys from children upon the children's arrival.

HARRIS: Is it the policy of every station then to remove toys and books and other toys from the children when they arrive? And if so, are you then replacing them with other books and toys and things of that nature?

McALEENAN: We're trying to provide the most appropriate custodial setting for the brief period that children are with us, and it's got to be safe. That's the primary consideration.

HARRIS: Do you believe that the children having toys would create an unsafe condition?

McALEENAN: It depends on the toys.

HARRIS: It depends on the toys -- can you give examples of toys that would create an unsafe condition?

McALEENAN: Sure. We could go to the Consumer Product Safety Commission website and list all the types of toys that are legal in other countries that are not allowed here that could be dangerous to children if they arrive with them.

A full transcript of Harris' questioning is below:

Harris: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Commissioner McAleenan- would you agree that the vast majority of parents, wherever they are born, have a natural desire to protect their children, whatever it takes?

McAleenan: Certainly.

Harris: In January the Department of Defense extended the deployment of active duty troops at our southern border for an additional 8 months in response to a DHS request, despite multiple requests from my office of DOD and DHS, we have not received an intelligence-based assessment demonstrating a national security threat to our southern border. Were you involved in developing the assessment and the thread assessment that DHS provided to DOD to justify the deployment of these troops?

McAleenan: So the specific request for assistance made to DOD for the operational support they are providing, they are generated by CPP and are operationally-

Harris: Were you involved in the assessment?

McAleenan: I would approve those requests, correct.

Harris: And do you have a copy of your assessment that contributed to the decision to send more troops to the border?

McAleenan: I'd be happy to give you our request for assistance and explain the rationale.

Harris: Please do. And can you do that by the end of next week?

McAleenan: Sure.

Harris: Thank you. Last week the Justice Department reported the Office of Refugee Resettlement received 4,556 allegations of sexual abuse or harassment of immigrant children in their custody between October 2014 and July of 2018. 178 of these allegations were against staff of shelters where the children were placed including: fondling, and kissing, and watching them shower, and rape. Justice Department data shows at the peak of family separation crisis last spring and summer, sexual abuse allegations in shelters skyrocketed. Obviously this is unacceptable, it's abhorrent, and we should all be very, deeply concerned. So I understand that HHS personnel do not fall under your direct authority, but your agency is nonetheless handing over these children to HHS. So my question is: were you aware of these reports of sexual abuse?

McAleenan: I did see the recent reports. Obviously something we take very seriously in our own custody. We also do an annual report-

Harris: Were you aware of these reports before it was published last week?

McAleenan: No, I was not.

Harris: You had no sense this was going on?

McAleenan: I was certainly not aware of those numbers or that level of information.

Harris: Were you aware of any allegations, that, while the children you handed over to ORR, that they has been abused?

McAleenan: No, actually I was not aware of any specific allegations that I can recall. In my experience, the HHS, ORR professionals are very committed to children and the grants they administer do a very good job protecting children as they place them with sponsors.

Harris: Do you have any concern that now that you know that over 4,000 allegations occurred within 4 years that perhaps that's not the case?

McAleenan: I defer to my colleagues at HHS to answer that question.

Harris: Moving forward- what can you do to ensure that the children transferred over at ORR will be safe? Now that you do know this information.

McAleenan: I believe that's a better question for HHS and Secretary Azar and Secretary Johnson.

Harris: Do you believe that you have any duty, or that your agency has any duty to ensure that when you transfer these children to the custody to another agency that they will be safe?

McAleenan: I am mandated by law to transfer these children. I don't have an ability to question it.

Harris: So you don't believe that you have a duty to determine that upon transfer of these children that will be safe?

McAleenan: I am required by statue to transfer these children to HHS within 72 hours.

Harris: Do you believe that you have any duty to raise a flag of concern that when you transfer these children to another agency that they may not be safe?

McAleenan: I believe that's the duty of the management and leadership of Health and Human Services, their inspector general, or the White House. Not- or Congress, not mine.

Harris: Okay. The New York Times recently published a report that there was an investigation into incidents of sexual violence along the Southern border over the past two decades. The investigation found that there were 100 documented cases of immigrant women being sexually assaulted along the border, often after they had reached the United States. According to the report, at least five of these women were assaulted by on-duty CBP officers. Has CPB conducted an investigation into these alleged sexual assaults?

McAleenan: Yes.

Harris: And what is the result of the investigations?

McAleenan: We could bring you a briefing on each case we have explored. Obviously the DHS IG or sometimes state and local law enforcement will have the lead of those investigations, but I can tell you it's unacceptable in any degree in our ranks. It needs to be followed up on and held accountable, and those five cases are very concerning.

Harris: Can you please give my office the results of those investigations by the end of next week?

McAleenan: Sure.

Harris: Were any of those cases referred for criminal prosecution?

McAleenan: I believe several of them were, yes.

Harris: What, if any duty does CBP have, and in particular CBP personnel, what if any duty do they have to report any suspicions they have of sexual abuse being committed by their colleges?

McAleenan: It is mandatory by policy.

Harris: Can you give me a copy of that policy please?

McAleenan: Yes.

Harris: Legal declarations filed on behalf of immigration children described freezing temperatures, limited access to food and water, and verbal and physical assault at CBP facilities. My staff visited the El Centro Border Patrol station in January and the official there said there is a policy of taking away all toys from children and that happens upon their arrival, which means of course that when the children are in custody at this station they have no access to toys, books, or any other means of mental stimulation. Is this policy unique to El Centro, or is this happening in other detentions facilities as well?

McAleenan: So all of our policies are nationally consistent. We have what is called the Transportation Escort Detention Standards that is overseen by our own internal office of professional responsibility, but also the inspector general, the civil rights and civil liberties at DHS-

Harris: So is it the policy of every station then to remove toys and books and other toys from the children when they arrive? And if so, then are you then replacing them with other books and toys and things of that nature?

McAleenan: So we are trying to provide the most appropriate, custodial setting for the brief period the children are with us and it's got to be safe. That is the primary consideration.

Harris: Do you believe the children having toys would create an unsafe condition?

McAleenan: It depends on the toys.

Harris: It depends on the toys?

McAleenan: It is not a discretionary-

Harris: Can you give an example of toys that would create an unsafe condition for the children?

McAleenan: Sure, we can go to the Consumer Product Safety Commission website, and list all the types of toys that are legal in other countries, that are not allowed here that could be dangerous to children if they arrive with them, but that's something we need to do carefully.

Harris: I have no further questions, thank you.

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