John Sanders, appointed to the post just two months ago, said in a letter obtained by several US media outlets that he planned to step down as acting CBP commissioner
Immigrants are pictured behind the fences of a temporary facility set up for them at the El Paso Border Patrol Station on June 21. Pic/AFP
Washington: The acting head of the US Customs and Border Protection agency announced his resignation on Tuesday amid a public outcry over alarming detention conditions of migrant children in Texas.
John Sanders, appointed to the post just two months ago, said in a letter obtained by several US media outlets that he planned to step down as acting CBP commissioner on July 5.
Sanders' departure coincides with the revelation of unsanitary detention conditions for children at an overcrowded Border Patrol facility in Clint, Texas, a sign of the increasing strain on resources due to soaring numbers of arrests at the US-Mexico border.
The conditions at the center in Clint were described by a team of lawyers, doctors and others who visited the facility about 20 miles (30 kilometres) southeast of El Paso.
Nearly 250 children were transferred out of Clint on Monday but a CBP official said Tuesday that about 100 were being sent back there.
US President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday he did not ask Sanders to step down but "knew there were going to be changes there."
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump 'very concerned'
Trump said that he was "very concerned" about the conditions at migrant detention facilities on the border but asserted that the situation was much better than that during the previous Obama regime.
10 migrants dead, 30 hurt in bus crash
Ten illegal immigrants died Wednesday and 30 were injured when the driver of a packed minibus refused an order to stop and crashed into a shop in northwest Turkey, local officials and media said.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
