fights, escapes, harm as migrant kids lash out while detained in u.s. facilities

HOUSTON —
In a government facility for immigrant youth, a 20-year-
The old woman lied that she was 17 years old and she stole a needle from her sewing class and cut it herself.
In another game, the camera caught a boy repeatedly kicking the child\'s head after a quarrel on the football field. One 6-year-
After another boy threw his shoes into the toilet, the old man tried to escape from the same facility.
The three employees had to pull the boy off the fence and bring him back to a building.
The records obtained by The Associated Press highlight some issues with government facilities that plague immigrant youth, when President Donald Trump\'s administration has been taking action in recent weeks, more children in detention may be sent
About 14,000 migrant children have been detained in more than 100 facilities across the country, of which about 5,900 are in Texas.
Many people crossed the border without their parents and had to wait for longer periods of detention before they could be placed with relatives or sponsors who were discouraged from coming forward for fear of being arrested and deported.
Hundreds of children separated from their parents were also detained in these facilities earlier this year, but since then most of them have been released to their parents.
Amid a global uproar over family separation, the Trump administration sees these facilities as a safe place to care for migrant children.
But according to records obtained by The Associated Press, the child detention system is already overwhelmed.
The children were acting, sometimes beating each other, trying to escape, and the staff worked hard to deal with the escalating issues.
For months, doctors have warned about the consequences of long-term detention of children, especially after most of them fled violence and poverty in Central America and embarked on a dangerous trip to the United States. S.
\"Being detained can be a trauma,\" said the doctor.
Alan Shapiro is a pediatrician who works directly for immigrant children.
\"When we do trauma treatment for children at the same time, we can\'t treat their trauma.
Key projects in southwest Texas-based non-
Profit, Operating facilities with three incidents.
In Arizona, the group agreed in October to close two facilities and stop accepting more children elsewhere as part of a settlement with the state, the organization is investigating whether the organization has conducted adequate background checks on staff.
This year, a former employee was convicted of sexually assaulting several boys.
Meanwhile, the southwest of Key is trying to expand in Texas.
After local officials tried to stop a factory from opening, the company sued Houston.
The Southwest Key said in a statement that it reported all three events on its own and promised to correct any problems.
\"As long as migrant children are forced out of their homes due to violence and poverty, we want to provide them with compassionate care to help them reunite with their families safely and quickly, the organization said.
Southwest Key\'s facility was licensed by the Texas Health and Public Service Commission, which inspected child detention centers and published inspection records to The Associated Press. The U. S.
The government has also set up a temporary facility in Tornillo, Texas, because it is located on federal property, so there is no permission from the state.
There, about 1,800 children live in large tents at a much higher cost than licensed facilities.
This is up from 320 of the worst crisis of family separation in June.
A repeatedly marked facility is Casa El Presidente in Brownsville, Texas, operated by Southwest Key.
As parents were arrested and separated from their babies and young children, Casa El Presidente became one of the three \"underage\" facilities in Texas to accommodate their children.
A group of members of Congress who visited in June said the facility had a baby room with high chairs and toys where staff were taking care of babies.
During the crisis of family separation, President Casa El has grown exponentially.
According to the state\'s monthly head, the agency grew from 56 children in June to 367 in November. 15.
On June 26, a shift supervisor told a state inspector that more employees had resigned and that the workers \"worked to implement healthy boundaries for children of this age.
\"He admitted that the staff were afraid to touch the children,\" the inspector wrote in a report . \".
The supervisor said Casa El Presidente had to change the policy of restricting young children who misbehave because the time to hold them was too short to be \"upgraded rather than canceled\"escalating.
\"The Southwest Key says an example of a typical constraint is to hold the child\'s arm or shoulder and it does not use mechanical constraints.
The facility is restricted due to improper 6-year-
The old boy who tried to climb the playground fence to escape in July.
In an inspection report, the boy\'s name was ottoman.
The staff told an inspector that two other boys put their shoes in the toilet two days before Ottoman ran to the fence.
According to the report, Ottoman \"also expressed frustration at shelters away from his family \".
The three staff members eventually lifted Ottoman out of the fence and brought it back to the building.
In the same month, two boys named Louis and Franklin fought because Louis played a football that Franklin thought belonged to him.
An inspector who watched the video of the facility wrote that Franklin chased Louis and punched him, causing Louis to fall.
\"Franklin began to kick him, touch and kick Louis\'s face again,\" the inspector wrote . \".
Employees \"Never try to get Franklin out of Louis;
The staff just held him.
The inspector quoted the facility as not properly intervening to prevent the kick.
At Casa Rio Grande Hotel in San Benito, Texas, a 20-year-old man who lives thereyear-
Tell the staff about her 17-year-old.
A survey report says she is Julia.
Julia told an inspector that she took a needle from her sewing class and cut it herself because \"she felt lonely.
\"She hid her wrist under her sweater for about two weeks, but one day when she forgot to wear it, a staff member found the marks.
In each case, the inspector interviewed other minors detained at the facility.
Another young man reportedly said that they were treated well, had enough food and were respected by the staff.
Jeff Le, a spokesman for the Southwest Key, admitted that the morale of employees was affected this year due to unprecedented demand.
\"We are opposed to family separation in border areas,\" said Eele.
\"It is better for children, parents and the community to have family reunions.