Migrant detentions under the Trump administration

Woman-and-child migrants detained in cage in July 2019 at the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, the United States.
Overcrowded conditions for migrant families detained in Weslaco, Texas were reported by inspectors from the federal government in June 2019.[1]

The Trump administration has detained migrants attempting to enter the United States at the United States–Mexico border. Government reports from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in May 2019 and July 2019 found that migrants had been detained under conditions that failed federal standards. These conditions have included prolonged detention, overcrowding, and poor hygiene and food standards.

The United States has a history of detaining migrants from Central America since the 1970s under the presidency of Jimmy Carter, with boat migrations from the Caribbean resulting in detentions from the 1980s onwards, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Since the 2000s, prosecutions of migrants who illegally crossed the border became a priority under the presidency of George W. Bush and the presidency of Barack Obama. The Trump administration took a stricter approach than did previous administrations regarding migrant detentions, allowing no exemptions for detention,[clarification needed] unlike the George W. Bush and Obama administrations.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference OIGjuly2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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