Surprise visits to four immigration detention centers last year by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general found expired food and unsanitary conditions in bathrooms and kitchens, according to a report released Thursday.
"Although the conditions varied among the facilities and not every problem was present at each, our observations, interviews with detainees and staff, and reviews of documents revealed several persistent issues," the IG said in its report, disclosed by CNN.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centers have been deluged with illegal aliens, primarily families, who have been crossing the southern U.S. border.
In May, more than 144,000 illegals were approached or arrested at the border, up nearly 32% over April and the highest monthly total in 13 years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Wednesday.
The Trump administration has asked Congress for $4.5 billion in emergency aid to address border issues, CNN reports.
According to the IG's report, officials visited these centers between May and November: Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, LaSalle ICE Processing Center in Louisiana, Essex County Correctional Facility in New Jersey, and Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado.
The centers can hold up to a total of 5,000 detainees, according to the IG's report.
Inspectors found spoiled food at all four centers, while others found unsanitary conditions in the bathrooms at two centers — and aliens were strip-searched with no documented justification.
But ICE officials responded in the report it had since resolved, or was addressing, problems disclosed in the IG document. Those upgrades included better staff training, food-service improvements and repaired bathrooms.
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