A senior Customs and Border Protection official wrote a letter to Congress Thursday where he alleged that CBP failed to adequately monitor its medical service contractor before an 8-year-old died in U.S. custody in May—the latest in a string of criticisms over the the agency’s treatment of migrants as border crossings spike to record levels.
In the letter, an attorney for Troy Hendrickson, a 15-year veteran at the CBP, said he had raised concerns about the agency’s medical contractor, Loyal Source Government Services, which was responsible for providing medical services and received a $25 million-per-month contract from the CBP, according to the Washington Post.
Hendrickson alleged the company was understaffed by 40%, employees lacked proper licenses and clearances and the company made billing errors that he said led to millions of dollars in overpayments and other problems.
The letter said Hendrickson had been trying to get CBP to issue a warning notice to Loyal Source Government Services asking them to improve their services since January 2022, but his efforts were thwarted, and after bringing his concerns to his supervisors he was then reassigned.
Meanwhile in May, 8-year-old Anadith Reyes Alvarez died in a CBP facility after being detained by border officials—a death that Hendrickson’s lawyer said might not have happened “Had Mr. Hendrickson’s and his OCMO colleagues’ concerns about Loyal Source been addressed in 2021 or 2022.”
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