This Is What Congressional Democrats Witnessed at Border Patrol Stations in Texas

From ELLE

On Monday, Democratic members of Congress, including members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the House Judiciary Committee, traveled to visit two Border Patrol stations in El Paso and Clint, Texas. The delegation was there to investigate reports that detained immigrants at these facilities were living in squalid conditions.

And that's exactly what they found. A number of the congressmen and congresswomen tweeted about what they saw, even though, as Rep. Joe Kennedy tweeted, the delegation said officers tried to restrict what they saw and attempted to block photos and videos. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that at the El Paso Border Patrol station, officers "were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets." (When she was later asked on Twitter if she was referring to toilets that have sinks attached, she confirmed that's what was available to the women but said that when Rep. Ayanna Pressley tried to use the attached sink, no water came out.)

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that when she "forced" herself into a cell and was able to speak with some of the women being held there, one described the officers' treatment as "psychological warfare" and that the women were woken up at odd hours for no reason and called slurs. One woman gave Ocasio-Cortez a small packet labeled "shampoo" but told the congresswoman that's what she was given to wash her entire body:

Ocasio-Cortez also said the women told the group that Customs and Border Protection had "cleaned up" for the visit and that some women who had gone more than two weeks without a shower were permitted to start bathing after the visit was announced. She wrote, "What’s haunting is that the women I met with today told me in no uncertain terms that they would experience retribution for telling us what they shared."

Rep. Joaquin Castro, the head of the Hispanic Caucus, was able to take a video of some of the women in CBP custody at the El Paso station. You can see them sitting on the floor, huddled together in blue sleeping bags:

Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted that she spoke with a father who slept on a concrete floor in a tent for four days with his wife, eight-year-old daughter, and 14-year-old son. He said they were denied showers and substantial food.

In a video, Rep. Judy Chu confirmed many of Ocasio-Cortez's statements, saying what she saw was "appalling" and "disgusting." She also said that she met a woman with epilepsy who is not able to get the medication she needs:

On the day of the trip, ProPublica published an investigation into a secret Facebook group of current and former border patrol agents. (The group itself has about 9,500 members.) The investigation details that in the group, agents joked about migrants dying, posted sexist, doctored images of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez performing oral sex, and joked about throwing burritos at Latina members of Congress who were coming to visit the detention centers.

Speaking at a press conference later on Monday-over the sounds of nearby hecklers- Rep. Pressley said, "This is about the preservation of our humanity. And this is about seeing every single person there as a member of your own family. I am tired of the health and the safety, the humanity and the full freedoms of black and brown children being negotiated and compromised and moderated. We need a system that works, that is humane, and that is compassionate, and that keeps families together."

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