MSNBC’s Jacob Soboroff was one of the first reporters to tour the massive shelter for migrant children in Brownsville, TX and the conditions he encountered were shocking. Shocking because the conditions were so much nicer than those seen during the Obama administration where kids were routinely put in kennels. (TL;DR: Scroll down for the photos)
Check out his report:
I’m a part of the first group of journalists to go into the shelter for detained child migrants in Brownsville Texas since the zero tolerance separation policy was announced. 1000+ boys here.
Going in right now.
More tonight w @chrislhayes on @allinwithchris @MSNBC. #inners pic.twitter.com/NeLlaDdSKv
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 13, 2018
OK, this is weird:
Just finished tour, don’t even know where to start.
One of the first things you notice when you walk into the shelter — no joke — a mural of Trump with the quote “sometimes losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.”
Presidential murals everywhere. But that one is 1st.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 13, 2018
There are a lot of kids there:
This shelter, Casa Padre, is the largest licensed childcare facility of its kind in the country. Nearly 1,500 boys 10-17 in here now. They’re supposed to sleep four to room. Nearly every room has 5. They’ve received a variance from the state because of overcrowding.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 13, 2018
No gang members though:
Officials here said they’ve never had an MS-13 member here, ever.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 13, 2018
Soboroff was told the kids feel like they’re animals in cages when the media looks at them, so “smile”:
Moments after we walked in a shelter employee asked us to smile at hundreds of detained migrant kids in line for a meal because “they feel like animals in a cage being looked at.”
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 13, 2018
And they get outdoor time (How many hours per day do your kids spend outside on a school day? This is pretty good):
Kids here get only two hours a day to be outside in fresh air.
One hour of structured time.
One hour of free time.
The rest of the day is spent inside a former Wal Mart.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 13, 2018
This isn’t so shocking, actually. Why should the media get free rein to tour a facility with children?
Instructions to employees in the lobby of the shelter if you encounter media:
1) “Immediatelt notify PD,” or the police department.
2) Call the shelter communications director.
In that order.
For the record, nobody called cops on us. We were invited by HHS and the shelter.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
Management of the facility is doing a good job and professional:
This mega-shelter is run by trained staff — a nonprofit.
I believe the worker looking after these kids who said she’d like to see a day when they don’t have to do this.
But things are moving in the wrong direction — capacity is 1497 and tonight 1469 boys will sleep here.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
Now for the kicker … there are “no cells or cages” like the ones we saw during the Obama administration, but they are forced to watch “Moana.” What is this, Gitmo? Call the UN!
I have been inside a federal prison and county jails.
This place is called a shelter but these kids are incarcerated.
No cells and no cages, and they get to go to classes about American history and watch Moana, but they’re in custody.
Coming up on @allinwithchris next.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
Something I just told @chrislhayes: this place is a licensed child care facility with trained staff. There are 26 operated by the same nonprofit, @SouthwestKey.
Its president told me that potential new tent cities that will be on federal property *don’t* have to be licensed.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
Now for the pictures of what looks like pretty nice conditions:
Starting to get some handout photos from our tour with @HHSGov.
Here’s the Trump mural I mentioned to @chrislhayes inside the shelter for incarcerated child migrants.
Also their beds and the towels they shower with. pic.twitter.com/EPEQ1VGAAF
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
Here’s the photo from the top right so you don’t have to click through:
Now compare that to the photos of kids in kennels during the Obama years:
And when he told Hayes that it felt like a prison, he was talking about how the kids ate their meals (see below). Which makes no sense because this looks like a school cafeteria and not a prison. Kids in America have barcodes on their ids, so this isn’t that shocking at all. And at schools across the country, kids eat in shifts during the day. Has Soboroff ever been to a prison cafeteria?
Here are some photos of the boys in the cafeteria.
This is not a school cafeteria.
Hundreds called to eat at a time on rotating shifts.
When I told @chrislhayes it felt like a prison or jail, I was thinking about this. pic.twitter.com/feZI46SPAc
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
Wait … and now bedtime at 9 p.m. is an issue?
One final thing that stuck out: this former WalMart is 250,000 square feet.
The boys have under *40* square feet of living space each.
Lights go out in there at 9PM every night.
Will have more tomorrow on @TODAYshow, @Morning_Joe & @MSNBC.
Thanks for sharing this story.
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 14, 2018
This is not going to have the impact he thinks it will have.
***
Related:
SHOCKER: Jon Favreau admits he never would have posted that Obama-era photo of children in cages https://t.co/jy8tDY8uFp
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 30, 2018
Jon Favreau, Shaun King, Linda Sarsour and other libs just committed the greatest self-own in the history of Twitter https://t.co/gDEi2HwwcF
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 27, 2018
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