Late Wednesday, still images from surveillance video at the stations, offering a glimpse inside the cells, were publicly released. The screenshots also show a mother changing a baby’s diaper on top of a thin thermal blanket set against the concrete. The blankets are migrants’ sole protection against the cold temperatures; they took to calling the cells “hieleras” — Spanish for iceboxes. “When the operational interests of Border Patrol are also taken into account,” the filing says, “the evidence clearly shows that Tucson Sector Border Patrol stations do not violate the constitutional rights of detainees.”Experts hired by the plaintiffs to visit the stations and review the images reached a different conclusion. They were “not designed for sleeping” and detainees “should not be held for more than 12 hours,” according to a Border Patrol manual referred to in the lawsuit.

Source: New York Times August 18, 2016 18:33 UTC