Columbia Standard

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released an interim staff report detailing findings from a lengthy investigation into medical care at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities. The report highlights systemic issues in providing adequate care to vulnerable individuals, including children, held in CBP custody.

The investigation was initiated following the death of Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, an eight-year-old girl from Panama, who died at a CBP detention facility in Harlingen, Texas, on May 17, 2023. Durbin stated: “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."

The report identifies several key issues such as understaffing at CBP facilities, prolonged detention of children, inadequate use of medical records systems, and insufficient oversight of contracted medical personnel. It also provides seven recommendations aimed at improving medical care for vulnerable populations in government custody.

Durbin emphasized the need for reform: “For too long, CBP has failed to meet basic medical needs and wasted taxpayer dollars... As the Trump Administration begins its aggressive and undisciplined anti-immigrant agenda, I urge CBP to adopt these recommendations.”

Recommendations include reducing time in custody for vulnerable populations, ensuring adequate staffing levels and access to physicians, improving electronic medical record systems, empowering medical staff to seek emergency services when needed, enhancing transparency in oversight processes, discontinuing isolation units except for necessary quarantines, and ensuring robust monitoring by medical experts.

This report is part of Durbin's ongoing efforts to address deficiencies in medical and mental health care within Department of Homeland Security facilities. He continues to investigate conditions in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers.