Migrants leaving their enclosure under the El Paso bridge

Federal immigration officials appear to have cleared a pen under a bridge in El Paso, where they held hundreds of families of asylum seekers, following an outcry sparked by the conditions of detention on the site.

However, the authorities appeared to have transferred some of the migrants' treatment to another site on the other side of the bridge, using a military-style tent near an existing treatment facility operated by the military service. customs and border protection. A smaller number of migrants could be seen on this site late Sunday afternoon.

Moreover, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection said Sunday that the agency was "transferring all illegal aliens temporarily detained" in the original compound under the bridge to a treatment station located northeast of El Paso. The spokesman said the decision had been made "to move to a place with more space and more accommodation".

The border agency said last week that she had no choice but to keep the migrants out, surrounded by fences and razor wires, because overpopulation of El Paso treatment facilities caused by a recrudescence of Central American migrants seeking asylum.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan spoke to reporters Wednesday, saying the country's immigration control system was at a "breaking point".

Citing interviews with families held under the bridge, the A.C.L.U. stated that it had received reports that agents had verbally and physically injured migrants, forced them to stand for long periods of time, deprived them of sleep and would no longer have access to medical care, without being able to provide them with enough water and food.

Some families were detained under the bridge for up to four days, the commander said, adding that families with young children were asked to sleep on the floor and were not provided with a bedding, mats or chairs.

"We are asking the Inspector General to conduct an immediate investigation into the violations inflicted on asylum seekers by Border Patrol agents at outdoor facilities," said Shaw Drake, Center for Rights Rights Policy Advisor. on the border of the Association.

The migrants have since been transferred to undisclosed locations, he said, adding that "the agency has not informed us or members of Congress where migrants are currently detained and under what conditions."

Immigration officers were already struggling to respond to the changing profile of migrants arriving at the border with Mexico. Fears of border patrols remain well below their peak of 1.6 million in 2000, but have increased recently to reach 467,000 in 2018, the highest figure in six years. And more of them are now Central American families seeking asylum rather than single men from Mexico.

Federal immigration officials say court decisions have created loopholes that make it more attractive for Central Americans to seek asylum in the United States.

"This status quo is not an option," said Andrew Meehan, deputy commissioner for public relations at the Customs and Border Protection Directorate, in a statement. "The legal framework needs to be addressed," he said, reiterating the administration's calls to Congress for it to look into asylum laws. "The only cure for this crisis is the action of Congress."

Immigrant lawyers have stated that the federal government is required by law to treat asylum applications humanely and that it could have avoided migrant families from having to spend days in a pen.

"If they wanted to prepare for it, they could have done it," said Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights, an organization in El Paso. "The administration could have redirected resources, assigned more asylum officers, examined what was happening on the ground".

Immigration authorities in El Paso have claimed that detention centers were overwhelmed in the city, as in other places along the border. McAleenan said the border patrol temporarily reassigned approximately 750 inspectors to care for newly arrived families in Central America.