Migrant Children Allege Sexual Assault, Retaliation at Arizona Detention Facility

Government case managers recorded accounts of Customs and Border Protection agents sexually assaulting and retaliating against children at a migrant detention facility in Yuma, Arizona. According to NBC News, a 15-year-old Honduran girl recalled an officer groping her after putting his hands inside her bra and pulling down her underwear during what was meant to be a “routine pat down.” The teen girl said the officer was speaking English, while other officers were “laughing” during the incident. A 16-year-old boy from Guatemala said he and others were forced to sleep on hard concrete after complaining about the taste of the food and water at the facility. Another Honduran teenager said the officers would use “puto,” an offensive Spanish term, while giving orders. Other children recalled not being offered a shower, a phone call, going hungry, and being forced to sleep outside in almost 30 accounts between April and June.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the allegations of misconduct would be “fully investigated,” adding that the sexual assault allegation was “already under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.”