Report: Trump Admin Didn’t Run FBI Background Checks on Migrant Camp Staff

The Trump administration waived “rigorous background checks” for staff members working at the largest detention center for migrant children, the Associated Press reports. A government watchdog memo obtained by the AP concluded that the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement “personally signed off” on nixing “child abuse and neglect checks” for staffers working at the Tornillo, Texas, migrant camp. In addition, the memo states that none of the 2,100 staffers who worked at Tornillo went through FBI fingerprint checks—but a contractor told the AP that staff members were “vetted in other ways.” Tornillo currently holds 2,324 migrant teens after a recent expansion. A department spokesperson did not immediately provide comment.