Islam Times - Refugee Kids Sexually Assaulted in US Detention Facility: Texas Governor

Islam Times - Refugee children held at a Texas migrant detention facility have been sexually assaulted, says the Texas governor, blaming President Joe Biden for the deepening humanitarian crisis at the border with Mexico.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Wednesday that children held at an improvised facility in the city of San Antonio “are being sexually assaulted.”

According to Press TV, he said it wasn’t clear how many children had been abused, remarking that the allegations are “very credible.”

"Complaints that were sent to these state agencies include the following four things: children at this facility are being sexually assaulted; second, there are not enough staff to safely supervise the children at this facility; third, some children at this facility are not eating throughout the day; and fourth, children with COVID are not being physically separated from children without COVID," Abbott said.

“In short, this facility is a health and safety nightmare,” the governor said, before instructing the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers to begin investigating the reports of sexual abuse.

The Biden administration is using the Freeman Expo Center in San Antonio to house up to 2,100 migrant children. There are currently about 1,300 migrant children in the facility.

Abbott blamed President Biden’s “open border policy” for the crisis at the border, calling for him “to shut down the facility immediately.”

“These problems are a byproduct of President Biden’s open border policies and the lack of planning for the fallout” of those policies, the governor said.

“The Biden administration is now presiding over the abuse of children,” he added.

Abbott called on the White House to “immediately” close down the child detention facility and move the migrant children to federally run facilities with enough “space, personnel and resources to ensure their safety.”

Biden, a democrat, stands accused of inciting a chaotic migrant rush on the US border with Mexico after he vowed to unwind many of the immigration policies of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump when he assumed office in January.

According to preliminary Customs and Border Patrol figures shared with Reuters last week, over 171,000 migrants were picked up along the US-Mexico border in March, the highest monthly total since 2006.