Government Watchdog Raises Alarm on Major Safety Issues at Detention Centers in Indian Country; Grijalva Warns Against Further Budget Cuts
Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on a newly released Management Advisory from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) highlighting immediate health and safety concerns at detention facilities funded and/or operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The three specific facilities include the San Carlos Apache Adult/Juvenile Detention Center, the White Mountain Apache Adult Detention Center, and the Tohono O’odham Adult Detention Facility.
CLICK HERE to read the OIG’s Management Advisory.
OIG identified these health and safety concerns during site visits related to a separate performance audit of BIA detention programs. According to the report, the seriousness of these issues warranted release prior to the completion of the final audit. The OIG previously reported similar health and safety concerns in 2016.
“The safety issues raised in this report are disturbing enough on their own, but the fact that they span multiple administrations is inexcusable,” said Grijalva. “We don’t need more evidence that chronic underfunding at the Bureau of Indian Affairs is taking its toll on the U.S. government’s trust responsibility to Indian Country, but the moldy ceilings, nonfunctional sewer systems, and electrical issues identified in the report provide it anyways. Meanwhile, House Republicans are only trying to make the problem worse by holding our economy hostage with extreme budget cuts that would devastate funding for these detention centers even further.”
Last week, House Republicans continued their threats to upend the U.S. economy by narrowly passing the Default on America Act, a reckless proposal of cruel and devastating cuts across the federal government. These cuts propose to slash BIA’s proposed FY 2024 budget by more than a quarter.
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