US Immigration News: Migrants Forced To Drink Toilet Water By Border Patrol, Says AOC

Pathetic conditions in the U.S. immigration detention centers are in focus after the visit of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats to some Texas facilities run by the CBP or Customs and Border Protection.

Ocasio-Cortez and fellow lawmakers were originally on the way to the controversial facility in Clint, Texas.

In a tweet, after the visit to one migrant detention center, the lawmaker accused that migrants are subjected to inhuman treatment by CBP officials who are forcing migrants to drink out of toilets. She also said women are shut in cells.

“Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets,” she said.

“This was them on their GOOD behavior in front of members of Congress," she lampooned.

Border agents flayed for a violent culture

The lawmaker from New York also alleged sexualized threats to her and the team by a group of border agents during the run-up to the visit and was reported by Pro Publica.

Ocasio-Cortez accused that a section of border agents are running a secret Facebook group where abusive calls were made to assault her and other Dems during the visit.

The lawmaker alleged that she was horrified to listen that the officers were so cruel to sit back and laugh at the migrants’ misery.

The Congresswoman said, “I see why CBP officers are so physically & sexually threatening towards me.”

Cortez said her visit to the interiors of the detention facilities convinced her that the atrocities are not limited to the kids alone.

“It’s everyone. People are drinking out of toilets, officers laughing in front of members of Congress.”

Cortez also blasted superiors in the border force, for their casual reply that ‘officers are under stress & act out sometimes.’ No accountability.”

Rep. Judy Chu of California also echoed similar views and recounted the scenes she saw at detention centers.

“‘If you want water, just drink from a toilet.’ That’s what border patrol told one thirsty woman we met on today’s #DemsAtTheBorder trip,” Chu tweeted. She also shared a video that presented the appalling conditions at the camp.

CBP denies allegation

Meanwhile, the toilet accusations were denied by CBP. It said locations Ocasio-Cortez visited are places where sinks dispense drinking attached to toilets by working as a single unit.

An official of CBP said: “No one is drinking toilet water” and sink being attached to the toilet is a common sight in all municipal jails in the United States.

Custody death confirmed

Meanwhile, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has confirmed the custodial death a 30-year-old Honduran man, Yimi Alexis Balderramos-Torres. He became the sixth person to die in ICE custody since October 2018.