An overwhelming number of children who I interviewed had not had an opportunity for a stable shower or bath since crossing the border [days or weeks earlier]. They were wearing the same clothing that they had crossed the border in. Their clothing was covered in bodily fluids, including urine and breast milk for the teenage moms who are breastfeeding.

Nearly every child I spoke with said that they were hungry because they’re being given insufficient food. The food at Clint is rationed on trays. Everyone gets an identical tray regardless of if you’re a 1-year-old, or you’re a 17-year-old, or a breastfeeding teenage mother who has higher caloric needs. The same food is served every single day, and none of the children receive any fruit and vegetables or any milk.

O’Leary: The AP is reporting that the kids in Clint, or at least the majority of them, may have been moved since your visit. Do you have any sense of where they went? Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hasn’t answered my question. [Editor’s note: CBP spokespeople gave varying answers to The Atlantic as to where the children were. Initially, a spokesman said over the phone that they had been moved. Another responded to a second question over email that there were “no updates at this point.” CBP did not respond to a subsequent email asking about reporting that the children had been moved back to Clint.]

Mukherjee: CBP hasn’t answered our questions either. We have learned that same information through the AP’s coverage. We are trying to figure out where CBP is moving the children.

All the children I spoke with had been detained in other CBP facilities prior to living in Clint. So Clint was their second or third stop in CBP custody. And we need to know where these children are going.

O’Leary: How was Clint compared with Homestead or some of the other facilities you’ve visited? Was it noticeably worse?

Mukherjee: Yes, it was noticeably worse. When I interview children in detention, I try to sit near them so that we can have a better conversation about very traumatic, sensitive, difficult topics. Usually that leaves the children crying. At Clint, I found that hard to do because there was a stench emanating from some of the children. It was filthy and disgusting and there was, as of last week, a flu epidemic at Clint and a lice infestation. And children do not have the ability to wash their hands with soap at Clint.

We repeatedly begged for access to the medical-quarantine area. We wanted to see the children who were the most vulnerable there. All of our efforts to seek access to the quarantine were denied. We were only permitted to make phone calls to the children there and there was a guard hovering, listening to what the children were saying on the other end of the line when they spoke to us by phone. Obviously it is nearly impossible to conduct an interview with a very young child who is very sick by phone.