The U.S. Army Fort Bliss base stands in El Paso, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. (Photo: Adria Malcolm/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
EPA scientist Kaitlin Hess spent time working at a camp for unaccompanied migrant children at Fort Bliss, Texas, (Photo provided by Kaitlin Hess)
Dana Gold, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project, said in a statement to VICE News that it took “horrific, chaotic conditions” for multiple federal employees to speak out.“Children were lost in faulty case management systems, contractors who had no experience working with children managed the operation, and children were held for months without their basic needs met in giant tents,” Gold said. “Our clients along with other federal workers are being asked to again volunteer to help HHS fulfill its duty to protect unaccompanied children, yet HHS has made no assurances that conditions have improved.”• “Children held for weeks without basic needs such as clean underwear or bedding…”
• “Contractors with no experience or expertise in childcare regularly threatening children with deportation”
• “An unsafe environment for children including harmful noise levels, 24-hour lighting in sleeping areas, and sleeping arrangements that impeded supervision”
• “A culture of secrecy lacking any method to address numerous concerns in which bullying, rioting, and sexual harassment of children went unaddressed”