Democracy Now!
More than a week after lawmakers flocked to the U.S.-Mexico border to observe the horrible treatment of refugee children and families in immigration jails, reports of unsafe and unsanitary conditions for asylum seekers are continuing. In Clint, Texas, the Border Patrol station that garnered international attention for jailing hundreds of migrant children without access to sufficient food, water, beds or medical care now has a spreading outbreak of scabies, shingles and chickenpox, according to border agents. In Yuma, Arizona, NBC reports that jailed migrant children have been subjected to mistreatment and sexual violence. We speak with prize-winning author John Carlos Frey, whose new book, “Sand and Blood: America’s Stealth War on the Mexico Border,” examines the history of U.S. immigration policies, looking at how both Democrats and Republicans laid the groundwork for the deadly system we have today.