Sen. Blumenthal to tour migrant centers at US-Mexican border
Friday, July 19, 2019 5:16 PM EDT
McAllen, Texas -
Connecticut senior Sen. Richard Blumenthal will be touring immigration detention centers that have come under fire for overcrowding and poor living conditions.
Sen. Blumenthal and 14 Democrats are in McAllen, Texas to tour various sites and visit the same facility that Vice President Mike Pence visited last week.
"The folks who work here, the Customs and Border Protection personnel, have a difficult, near impossible, job to do," says Sen. Blumenthal. "And that's also of Donald Trump's making."
A Washington Post reporter said "the stench was horrendous" at that particular facility. Border Patrol agents admitted that detainees hadn't showered in three weeks.
Acting Homeland Security Chief Kevin McAleenan says his agency is doing the best it can with limited resources and a flood of new immigrants.
"We are taking care of these children thanks to the resources we finally have," says McAleenan. They're moving very quickly through our facilities to Health and Human Services to a better situation."
This week, protests erupted outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters. President Donald Trump insists the facilities are clean and safe.