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Two federal workers filed a whistleblower complaint to Congress claiming the migrant children at a Texas facility were being watched by contractors who didn’t speak Spanish and had no child care experience. Servpro, the contractor for the Department of Health and Human Services, specializes in water, fire and storm disaster cleanups. It had no record of handling child welfare before it took on the almost 5,000 children at Fort Bliss in May. Attorneys for the whistleblowers said that “the conditions they witnessed caused physical, mental and emotional harm affecting dozens of children.” NBC News
In other federal immigration news…
Tlaib Calls for Defunding All Immigration Agencies
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) called on Congress to defund all federal immigration enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. She said that instead of “humanely guiding migrants through our immigration system,” the agencies “continue to terrorize migrant communities.” President Joe Biden plans to increasing CBP’s spending on border technology. The Biden administration is also planning on moving $860 million in COVID-19 relief funds to cover housing for unaccompanied migrant children. Meanwhile the Department of Homeland Security asked for $665 million to improve ports of entry and another $47 million for border surveillance technology. Daily Mail
Rep. Wants Immigration Included in Reconciliation Package
Illinois Rep. Jesús García (D) said he will only support a budget reconciliation package if it includes ideas to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. “A robust and equitable budget reconciliation deal must include a pathway to citizenship for immigrants — our country can’t make a full recovery without it, and I can’t support any deal that leaves so many people in my district behind,” García said in a statement. Despite other Democrats saying they support including immigration provisions in the reconciliation package, he is the first one to make an official statement. The Hill