A overcrowded, cold detention facility in Tucson.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

A trial is set to begin today over conditions at detention centers at several of Border Patrol’s stations in Arizona.

The case involves a lawsuit filed in 2015 that challenges what attorneys say are unsafe and deplorable conditions at eight Border Patrol facilities in Arizona, The New York Times reports.

The lawsuit was filed four years before the surge in immigrants last year caused even bigger problems at the facilities, which activists say are inhume.

Photos used as evidence in the case show men packed under an aluminum blanket, rusty toilets, soiled toiled paper, and women changing a baby’s diaper on a concrete floor littered with trash.

“We’re talking about ensuring that the government is meeting constitutional standards when it comes to the detention of people in these facilities,” said Victoria López, advocacy and legal director for the ACLU of Arizona, one of the organizations involved in the suit.

Border Patrol didn’t respond to questions from The New York Times.

Vultures are covering the tower in feces and corrosive vomit.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Vultures are causing a major headache for U.S. Customs and Border Protection near the Mexican border in southern Texas.

A 320-foot radio tower for CBP in Kingsville is covered in feces, vomit and urine, Quartz reports.

About 300 vultures are roosting on the tower and disrupting communications because of the corrosive excrement.

The agency plans to clean and repair the radio tower and the install a “Vulture Deterrence Netting System” by August before the carnivorous birds’ roosting cycle begins in the fall.