Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Releases Revealing Investigative Report On Inadequate Care In Customs And Border Protection Facilities
The culmination of a months-long investigation instigated by the tragic death of an eight-year-old girl, the Democratic staff report features a first-of-its-kind map of CBP medical processes, and analysis of inadequate medical care in CBP facilities, powerful whistleblower testimony, and seven recommendations to hold CBP accountable
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released an interim staff report and the findings of a months-long investigation into the chronic failure to provide adequate medical care to vulnerable individuals in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody, including a first-of-its-kind map of CBP medical processes, analyses of deficient medical care in CBP facilities, powerful testimony from impacted whistleblowers, and seven recommendations to hold CBP and its medical contractor accountable.
Entitled “The Failure to Provide Adequate Care to Vulnerable Individuals in CBP Custody,” the Democratic staff report provides an overview of the Committee’s oversight efforts and key findings regarding CBP medical care, including systemic problems such as understaffing, lengthy detention of children, the failure to document and assess medical records, unclear and inadequate guidance for treating children and other vulnerable individuals, and CBP’s failure to conduct meaningful oversight of its medical contractor.
This oversight work was prompted by the death of Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, an eight-year-old Panamanian girl, at a CBP detention facility in Harlingen, Texas, on May 17, 2023.
On the report’s release, Durbin released the following statement:
“Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez likely would still be alive if she received adequate emergency medical care in CBP custody. She was eight years old when she died. Her mom couldn’t call her an ambulance while in custody and begged medical staff to help her—to no avail. We should always care about the health and safety of children, especially when they’re in the government’s care.
“For too long, CBP has failed to meet basic medical needs and wasted taxpayer dollars. Whistleblowers have been key to our investigation, and I thank those who bravely came forward to speak truth to power.
“While some steps were taken under the Biden Administration, more needs to be done. That’s especially true as formal monitoring of CBP medical care may soon end without court intervention. As the Trump Administration begins its aggressive and undisciplined anti-immigrant agenda, I urge CBP to adopt these recommendations. We must have increased monitoring, stricter oversight, and adequate care for vulnerable people, especially children, in government custody.”
Key findings and takeaways from the investigation include:
- Children are held too long in CBP custody, putting them at risk.
- CBP facilities are chronically understaffed.
- Staff have not properly used medical records systems to track critical information about medically vulnerable individuals.
- Medical personnel are not always empowered to seek emergency medical services without approval from nonmedical personnel.
- Contracted medical personnel need consistent oversight by CBP to ensure the successful implementation of guidance to improve medical care for vulnerable individuals, including children.
The report includes the following seven recommendations:
- Reduce time in custody and strengthen protections for medically vulnerable populations.
- Ensure staffing needs are met and increase access to physicians.
- Continue to improve the existing electronic medical record (EMR) system, ensure contracted medical staff access medical records in the EMR system, and share health information after release from CBP custody.
- Ensure medical services staff are empowered to seek higher-level care when appropriate.
- Enhance transparency of medical care oversight.
- Discontinue the use of isolation units except when a medical quarantine is needed.
- Ensure robust monitoring of medical care in CBP facilities by medical experts.
For a PDF copy of the full report with appendices, click here.
For a PDF copy of the report only, click here.
For a PDF copy of the appendices only, click here.
The report is the latest step in Durbin’s ongoing inquiry into medical and mental health care in the Department of Homeland Security’s facilities. Durbin pressed for further investigation into deficient medical care in CBP detention facilities after whistleblower reports alleged systemic failures by DHS to ensure proper oversight of its medical care contractor.
Durbin continues to actively investigate care in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities, which he initiated with letters to ICE and the Government Accountability Office. A June 2024 report from the American Civil Liberties Union, Physicians for Human Rights, and American Oversight found that 95 percent of documented deaths in ICE custody between 2017-2021 were likely preventable.
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