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Minneapolis Protestors Demand Closure Of Detention Centers

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Protestors in Minneapolis joined others around the country Tuesday to demand the closure of what they call inhumane child detention centers.

Dozens gathered outside Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office in Minneapolis. They say they want her and other lawmakers to close immigration detention centers and refuse to authorize more funding for family detention and deportation.

"The United States is what it is because we welcomed people to our shores and welcomed them to our communities, and we know that everyone here has something to contribute and just wants a better life," said protester Erica Mauter. "We know people are coming here because where they are, where they're from, is no longer tenable. It's not safe."

RELATED: New Pictures Show 'Dangerous Overcrowding' At Border Patrol Facilities In Texas

In a statement released Tuesday, Klobuchar said she visited a detention facility in Florida and wants it shut down.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it uses its limited resources the best it can and short-term holding facilities were not designed to hold vulnerable populations.

Their statement added, "All allegations of civil rights abuses or mistreatment in CBP detention are taken seriously and investigated to the fullest extent possible."

The Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog found squalid conditions in several detention centers for migrant families and children in Texas, including "serious" overcrowding, minors going without hot meals for days and detainees begging not to be returned to their cells, according to a new report released Tuesday.

According to the inspector general, three of the five facilities were not providing detained children access to showers or clean clothes. In two facilities, minors had not been given a hot meal until the inspectors arrived.

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