The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, acting on charges that illegals faced abuses inside detention centers, found "nothing" wrong in three key facilities built to hold over 3,300 undocumented immigrants.

In a new report, the IG said it conducted three surprise inspections of Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. "Nothing came to our attention that warranted serious concerns about the health, safety, or welfare of the detained families. Specifically, we did not observe any conditions or actions that represented an immediate, unaddressed risk or an egregious violation of ICE's Family Residential Standards."

Several immigration rights groups, members of Congress and media have complained that illegals faced all sorts of abuses inside detention centers.



But the IG found the three major detention centers it investigated in ship shape form. Photos from the facilities showed clean offices and living areas

"During our July 2016 unannounced spot inspections of ICE's three family detention facilities, we observed conditions that generally met ICE's 2007 Family Residential Standards. The facilities were clean, well-organized, and efficiently run. Based on our observations, interviews, and document reviews, we concluded that, at all three facilities, ICE was satisfactorily addressing the inherent challenges of providing medical care and language services and ensuring the safety of families in detention," said the newly-released report.



ICE investigated two facilities in Texas, the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley and the Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes, and the Berks Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pa.

It found a highly trained staff and no evidence of personal or sexual abuse. Medical and safety facilities passed muster and it cited an example of staff going out of their way to help translate an " indigenous Central American language, Quiché."



The scarcity of attention given the new report prompted a mocking reaction from the Center for Immigration Studies, which posted the report on its blog:

One would think that this is the kind of report that would generate some interest in the national media, given the constant refrain from (and frequent litigation by) advocacy groups that ICE facilities are inadequate or substandard.

After all, this has certainly been the case when facilities or standards were determined not to be satisfactory by government watchdogs such as the OIG. In such cases, there is almost a scrum of adverse press, congressional expressions of outrage, and advocacy group press releases or website announcements.

Apparently interest doesn't run so high when detention centers are operating as they should be: Very few organizations have published anything about the most recent OIG report, perhaps because the results don't further their political agenda.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com