US: Video shows dragging & slapping of immigrant kids at Arizona shelter

Phoenix (USA), Jan 6: The Donald Trump administration in the US has already come under a lot of criticism over its policy of handling immigrants at the border. Officials were blasted over separating children from their immigrant guardians at the time of interrogation. And recently, a footage obtained by the Arizona Republic, a daily published from Phoenix, showed pathetic scenes of immigrant children being dragged, pushed and slapped by staff members at a shelter in Arizona last September.

The incidents allegedly took place after the federal government suspended the Southwest Key shelter's operations, as per the news report. Southwest Key is a non-profit organisation in the border state of Texas that runs shelters for immigrant minors who are without a company.

The organisation reported about the incidents related to abuse of three children and staff members in Youngstown, Arizona, reported Arizona Republic.

In one of the blurred surveillance videos that were released by the Arizona Department of Health Sciences, it was seen that a male staff member dragged and pulled a boy into a room and slapped and pushed him against a wall. He then leaves the room, the newspaper report said.

In another video, two staff members were seen dragging two children who apparently refused to stand, into another room.

According to People.com, the sheriff's office of Maricopa County, Arizona, said in an email that they probed several allegations of child abuse and assault that took place in the middle of September.

"After the initial response by patrol deputies, detectives conducted a thorough investigation of all three incidents, including interviewing all involved parties and witnesses, and conducting forensic interviews with the child victims. Investigators also reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage from inside the facility to ensure there were no other unreported incidents," they wrote.

"Based upon the evidence gathered during this thorough investigation, MCSO executive command has made the decision to submit the case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for its review and determination of criminal charges."