WASHINGTON— Today, NBC News reported numerous instances of physical and sexual abuse at a Customs and Border Protection processing center in Yuma, Arizona. In response, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva issued the following statement:

“The situations described by these children are unconscionable and should shake every American to their core. Sexual abuse, retaliation, and any form of child abuse should never be common-place, yet the culture of corruption and systemic abuse within all facilities holding asylum-seeking children and their families has made this a disgusting reality. The time has long since passed for the Trump Administration to end their cruel immigration policies, stop separating families, and utilize alternatives to detention that will remove children from these harmful facilities. 

“Investigation after investigation continues to be met with impunity for those involved in these actions—despite ample evidence implicating wrongdoing. Congress should immediately pass a bill to ensure recent funding provided to address the humanitarian crisis is conditioned upon the highest standards and conduct necessary to keep families and children safe from the rampant systematic abuses of this administration.  

“The Trump Administration must end its intentional delays and worsening of the humanitarian situation. Every last individual abusing children—or complicit by turning a blind eye—needs to be fired and criminally prosecuted for their disgusting behavior, and Members of Congress must be allowed immediate access to these facilities to conduct urgent oversight.”

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