...A federal judge issued a permanent injunction against the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector on Wednesday, telling the agency that it cannot hold migrants, including families with children, for longer than 48 hours.
...In his 40-page decision, U. S. District Judge David C. Bury ruled the conditions at the sector's eight stations are "presumptively punitive and violate the Constitution," and he blocked Border Patrol and parent agency U.S. Customs and Border Protection from holding people who have been processed by agents for more than 48 hours from "book-in time."
..."Detention may not extend into a third night under the 'no longer than 48 hours' rule until CBP can provide conditions of confinement that meet detainees' basic human needs for sleeping in a bed with a blanket, a shower, food that meets acceptable dietary standards, potable water, and medical assessment performed by a medical professional," he said.
..."The evidence is undisputed that conditions of confinement at Tucson Sector CBP stations are substantially worse than conditions afforded criminal detainees at the Santa Cruz County jail or other jail facilities, where detainees are medically screened by medical professionals; have a bed with cloth sheets, blankets, and pillows, and an opportunity for uninterrupted sleep; have clean clothing, including second layers for warmth; showers, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and warm meals with a variety of food choices, including fruits and vegetables, accommodating food allergies and religious beliefs," he said.
...Therefore, the acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and the other defendants "administer a detention system that deprives detainees, who are held in CBP stations, Tucson Sector, longer than 48 hours, of conditions of confinement that meet basic human needs," Bury wrote "because CBP holding cells are designed so as to preclude beds," and detainees are often forced to sleep in fully-lit holding cells on concrete floors.
Submitted 1498 days ago
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