On Monday, politicians Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Veronica Escobar, Joseph P. Kennedy III, Rashida Tlaib, and Joaquin Castro were among a group of more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers who visited a Texas immigrant detention center. While they had to check their phones, many of them took to Twitter to share the horrors they saw inside. Castro, however, managed to take photos and videos, further proving that the conditions at these facilities are unacceptable.
Through a series of tweets, Castro showed how inhumanely immigrants are treated at detention centers. In one video, women can be heard saying that they don’t have the medication they need or access to doctors. “This moment captures what it’s like for women in CBP custody to share a cramped cell – some held for 50 days – for them to be denied showers for up to 15 days and life-saving medication,” Castro, the brother of presidential candidate Julián Castro, wrote. “For some, it also means being separated from their children. This is El Paso Border Station #1.”
What he and other politicians shared isn’t new. Journalists – particularly those that belong to the Latino community – have reported on the atrocious conditions for years. But with so many people with large platforms now bringing attention to the issue, many are paying attention. Below, check out what Joaquin and other Democratic leaders saw when they visited immigrant facilities.
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Joaquin Castro
Our border patrol system is broken. And part of the reason it stays broken is because it’s kept secret. The American people must see what is being carried out in their name. The @HispanicCaucus led a delegation of members of Congress to visit 2 border patrol facilities.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019
Here’s what we found:
At the El Paso Border Patrol Station #1, women from Cuba, some grandmothers, crammed into a prison-like cell with one toilet, but no running water to drink from or wash their hands with. Concrete floors, cinder-block walls, steel toilets.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019
Many said they had not bathed for 15 days. Some had been separated from children, some had been held for more than 50 days. Several complained they had not received their medications, including one for epilepsy. Members of Congress comforted them when the women broke down.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019
They asked us to take down their names and let everyone know they need help. They also feared retribution. We then went to the Clint Border Patrol Station that warehouses children and some parents.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019
The tents outside, used during the surge recently, were dark and surrounded by chain link fences. The showers — mobile units — were dank, dirty and only too small in number for the hundreds of people there just a few weeks ago.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019
And a boy, perhaps three years old, pressed his face against the dirty glass of a locked steel door. He smiled big and tried to talk to us through the thick glass. His family — or another — ate Ramen on the floor a few feet away.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019