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(FOX 2) - Some fear that the problems we are seeing at the border in Texas will be brought up here to Michigan.
Why is the switch happening now? Border patrol says members of the senior leadership team are rotating on temporary assignment. The Texas border patrol chief who drew heavy criticism for squalid conditions at detention centers, is headed to Detroit.
The agency confirmed Friday that Aaron Hull will serve as interim chief patrol agent for the Detroit sector on a temporary duty assignment. The Detroit sector of border patrol includes all of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.
Local non-profits that work with immigrants are concerned.
"With this transfer of this guy coming to Michigan, it honestly is, it's awful," said Joanna Velazquez, Detroit Action. "It's not what I want for my state. It's not what I want for our communities that are already living in fear, who don't leave their house more than 3 blocks because they're scared."
Hull, who headed up the El Paso sector, downplayed concerns about conditions at his facilities during an interview with CNN.
"Well I would dispute that the conditions are so bad as have been reported," said Hull. "I can't understand why some people would be making so many allegations that they are making."
The Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General warned twice about dangerous overcrowding in Texas border patrol facilities, including the El Paso Processing Center,
The OIG said the conditions required immediate attention and action. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib got a firsthand look at two of El Paso sector facilities and said migrants there were treated like cattle. She released a statement to FOX 2 saying:
"I have deep concerns that Chief Hull will bring the inhumane conditions and dehumanizing behavior I witnessed at the southern border to metro Detroit."
The Detroit border patrol sector apprehends far less people than the El Paso sector which includes New Mexico. That, however, is cold comfort to Hull's critics and immigrant advocates.
"People are dying there," said Velazquez. "People are literally being concentrated together in rooms where they can't even breathe."
Hull begins his new post in Detroit on Monday. No word from border patrol on how long that temporary stint is to last.