Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) addresses the media after touring a Border Patrol facility housing children on July 1, 2019 in Clint, Texas. Christ Chavez/Getty ImagesDemocratic members of Congress are speaking out about the growing humanitarian crisis at the southern border after touring two facilities in Texas on Monday.
They visited the facilities after reports of deteriorating and unsanitary conditions.
The same day, investigative reporting group ProPublica came out with a story that uncovered a closed Facebook group where current and former Border Patrol agents reportedly share jokes about migrant deaths, derogatory comments about Latina lawmakers and a lewd memes.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of the Democratic lawmakers who toured a facility Monday.
She claimed she saw migrants drinking out of toilets, which a Border Patrol official flatly denied, and that she felt unsafe during the visit.
“People (are) drinking out of toilets, officers laughing in front of members Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a series of tweets.
But Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the only one speaking out after the tours.
In an interview with CNN, Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán expressed frustration about not getting sufficient answers from officials. “We’re not getting any answers on some of the programming, like (Migrant Protection Protocols),” she said.
Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania tweeted “conditions are far worse than we ever could have imagined” and that “this is a human rights crisis.” She also tweeted that she saw women sleeping in concrete cells with no running water.
The border bill: Last week, the House passed a $4.6 billion Senate bill that will send emergency funding to the border. The vote triggered a strong reaction from progressives who objected to the legislation — including Ocasio-Cortez.