Photos of children’s drawings that the American Academy of Pediatrics released Wednesday give a child-eye’s view of what life is like for young undocumented migrants detained in federal facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The drawings were done by three kids (two 10-year-olds and an 11-year-old) who were recently released from Customs and Border Protection custody, according to the AAP.
The drawings prominently feature people held behind bars.
“The fact that the drawings are so realistic and horrific gives us a view into what these children have experienced,” Dr. Collen Kraft, a former president of the AAP, told CNN. “When a child draws this, it’s telling us that [the] child felt like he or she was in jail.”
The children drew the pictures after arriving at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, reported NBC News.
Two of the children were from Guatemala. It’s not clear where the other child was from. It’s also unclear in which federal facilities they had been held.
The AAP did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for further comment or information.
Anger has risen this week over the conditions that migrants, including children, are being forced to endure in federal centers. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) described seeing “systemic cruelty” when she and other lawmakers visited a facility in Texas on Monday.
President Donald Trump, however, tweeted Wednesday night that the migrants are “living far better now than where they came from.”
