Immigration agents report abuse and deception of asylum seekers and even the rape of a girl by an officer

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced this Thursday the abuses perpetrated by immigration authorities against asylum seekers in the United States, based on 160 cases included in internal reports from the Department of Homeland Security between 2016 and 2021 ranging from harassment and deception to physical abuse and sexual abuse.

“In the kennel they

.

If we lay down and didn't get up quickly, they kicked us with our feet and told us that we had given birth to rats, ”said an asylum seeker, whose testimony was collected in one of the internal reports.

Border Patrol agents register two men who crossed into the United States illegally near McAllen, Texas, on Nov. 6, 2019.Eric Gay / AP

[The Trump Administration proposed the unprecedented deployment of 250,000 military personnel at the border to cut off the passage of migrants]

"A border agent

. And he picked me up three or four times, and kept hitting me on the ground," said another person, according to the documents of the Department of Homeland Security relieved by the humanitarian organization.

The Department of Homeland Security appears to have normalized the outrageous abuses by its border agencies "

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

The 26-page investigation, titled

, reviews internal reports made by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials. in the last five years. 

The humanitarian organization asked the Department of Homeland Security, led by Alejandro Mayorkas, in mid-October if disciplinary measures had been taken or investigations had been opened, but it said it had not received a response.

"The Department of Homeland Security

," Clara Long, HRW's associate director in the United States, said in a statement.

"These internal government documents make it clear that complaints of serious abuse - assaults, sexual abuse and discriminatory treatment by agents -

," he added.

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The allegations of abuse come just a month after border agents were recorded chasing Haitian migrants on horseback trying to reach Texas.

His action raised a unanimous political condemnation and led Mayorkas to take action against implicated agents.

Child abuse

One of the most serious cases in the Human Rights Watch investigation is the alleged abuse suffered by the young daughter of an asylum seeker, who recounted the assault during her interview with a USCIS official evaluating her case.

[The Government promises: "No ICE agent will pick up people when they go to work or on the way to school"]

"An asylum officer has just brought to our attention a serious matter: One of the applicants he interviewed today has

by someone we believe to be a Customs and Border Protection or Patrol officer. Border, "says the internal report.

Border Patrol agents on horseback try to contain the crossing of Haitian migrants on the Rio Grande.Felix Marquez / AP

"They were detained by the Border Patrol, sent to an ice chest and then this happened: the young woman was forced to undress and inappropriately touched by a guard who was wearing green," he adds.

Another asylum seeker explained that an officer asked her to spread her legs, touched her private parts and then hit her hard in that area.

Another testimony said that several immigration agents

while he was detained in the border centers of San Ysidro and San Luis.

The reported harassments also include denying detained migrants drinking water and suggesting they drink water from toilets, or tricking applicants into signing documents without knowing what was put on them in order to be able to expel them quickly.