US migrant centres: Photos show ‘dangerous’ overcrowding

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – A report from an internal US watchdog has found “dangerous overcrowding” in migrant detention centres in the south and urged authorities to act.

Jarring photos of facilities in the Rio Grande show 51 female migrants held in a cell made for 40 men, and 71 males held in a cell built for 41 women.

Adults were packed in standing room only cells for a week, with others held in overcrowded cells for over a month.

One facility manager called the situation “a ticking time bomb”.

“We are concerned that overcrowding and prolonged detention represent an immediate risk to the health and safety of [Department of Homeland Security] agents and officers, and to those detained,” inspectors said in the report. (BBC)