U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has led a group of lawmakers in releasing a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that highlights ongoing problems with medical care oversight at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities.
The GAO investigation was initiated following the December 2023 death of Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, an eight-year-old girl with sickle cell and congenital heart disease who died while in CBP custody in Harlingen, Texas. The request for the report also followed whistleblower allegations from a CBP employee about longstanding deficiencies in medical care and oversight within CBP facilities.
According to the findings, CBP has not ensured that medically vulnerable individuals receive required care despite existing policies. The GAO documented failures to provide necessary medical assessments and monitoring for high-risk groups such as pregnant individuals and those who are sick or injured. The report also noted that vulnerable people are often not prioritized for expedited processing and may be held beyond 72 hours. Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not established clear criteria for determining eligibility for quicker processing.
The report found issues with how CBP manages its medical services contracts, which has made it difficult to guarantee adequate care or hold contractors accountable.
Durbin commented on the findings: “The situation has long been dire for those in immigration detention. But with the onset of President Trump’s unpopular, inhumane anti-immigrant agenda, the urgency to reform oversight of medical care in CBP facilities is even more pressing. When human beings are in the government’s custody, we are responsible for ensuring they receive proper care. I urge CBP to aggressively implement these reforms and for Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in ensuring robust oversight of immigration detention facilities.”
Other lawmakers involved in requesting the report include Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY-14), and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM-03).
Raskin stated: "CBP's persistent failure to provide basic care for the men, women, and children in its custody is unconscionable and incompatible with our nation’s laws and values. The findings detailed in this report are profoundly troubling. At a moment when the Trump Administration has dramatically intensified its extreme and deadly immigration enforcement tactics, Congress has an urgent and bipartisan obligation to exercise robust oversight of immigration detention facilities and ensure that fundamental standards of humanity and due process are being upheld.”
Fernández added: “The Democratic Women’s Caucus has sounded the alarmfor months on the egregious mistreatment of women in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The murder of Renee Good by an ICE agent and the deportation of an eight-months-pregnant woman in medical distress this week are just a couple recent examples of their complete disregard for human life. CBP leaves pregnant women without critical medical exams, withholds prescriptions and medical records from individuals in their care, and neglects to follow its own procedures and care requirements. These offenses are inhumane, completely unacceptable, and should offend every American. We demand CBP immediately reform how they care for women in custody.”
The GAO made fourteen recommendations aimed at improving oversight mechanisms within CBP related to contracted personnel training; development of new monitoring systems; clarification around identifying at-risk individuals; improved contract management; cost-benefit analyses; better performance metrics; compliance reviews; certification requirements; contractor evaluations; documentation practices; among others.
CBP agreed with thirteen out of fourteen recommendations but did not accept one recommendation concerning clearer policy documentation on identifying at-risk individuals—a point previously raised by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A copy of the full GAO report can be accessed online.
