Earlier this summer, thousands of unaccompanied minors crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. Many of them were put on buses and shipped to other parts of the U.S., including Arizona, and were held at a number of locations like Nogales.
This week, an inspector general’s report was made public. A federal investigation that included surprise inspections was unable to substantiate 16 accusations by advocacy groups that the government packed into frigid cells children caught crossing the border alone, made them sleep on hard floors and provided inadequate food and medical care. Other claims about treatment of the children are still under review, according to the Homeland Security department.
An event on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus, “Migrants or Refugees? The crisis in Central America and the response in the United States,” considered legal questions and U.S. relations with certain Central American countries.
We spoke with two members of the panel, Leah Sarat of the Religious Studies department and Professor Evelyn Cruz of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.