A cache of internal Department of Homeland Security reports, obtained by Global1.news through a cross-border source, reveals that at least 79 children suffered documented injuries—including severe respiratory distress, corneal abrasions, and chemical burns—after U.S. border agents deployed tear gas and pepper spray during the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration operations. The incidents, spanning from 2018 to early 2021, occurred primarily at ports of entry and crowded detention facilities, where children as young as eight months were caught in the plume of capsaicin-based agents.

The documents, which include medical intake forms and suppressed incident logs, show a pattern of off-the-books use of chemical irritants against family units, contradicting official statements that such measures were only used against rock-throwing adults. In one case from San Ysidro, a five-year-old Honduran girl suffered a lacerated cornea after officers pepper-sprayed her mother during a processing backlog; the injury was initially classified as “minor skin irritation” to avoid triggering mandatory child-welfare notifications. Paper trails suggest a coordinated effort to downplay pediatric exposure, with field supervisors altering incident codes and pressuring medical staff to omit toxicology details.

The toll is likely higher: whistleblower accounts point to undocumented cases where tear gas was deployed in enclosed holding areas, contravening manufacturer safety guidelines. As the Biden administration reviews border polices, these records expose a systematic failure of oversight, where the physical harm to the most vulnerable was routinely buried under a shield of prosecutorial aggression. This is Irina Volkov for Global1.news, reporting from Moscow.