Trump and Dems debate borders
— President WASHINGTON
Donald Trump lashed out at the news media Sunday over what he called “phony and exaggerated accounts” following reports of crowded and unsanitary conditions at U.S. Border Patrol stations that have heightened debate about U.S. immigration policy, a trademark issue in his 2020 reelection campaign.
In tweets, Trump insisted the “fake news media” was missing the point in their reports about severe overcrowding at the border stations. His comments came after acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan in a news interview acknowledged a difficult situation but disputed accounts of inadequate food and water available for migrants.
“Border Patrol, and others in Law Enforcement, have been doing a great job. We said there was a Crisis - the Fake News & the Dems said it was ‘manufactured.’” Trump wrote. Federal detention centers “are crowded (which we ... brought up, not them) because the Dems won’t change the Loopholes and Asylum. Big Media Con Job!”
The Homeland Security Department’s internal watchdog provided new details Tuesday of the overcrowding in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. The report said children at three facilities had no access to showers and that some children under age 7 had been held in jammed centers for more than two weeks. Some cells were so cramped that adults were forced to stand for days.
Government inspectors described an increasingly dangerous situation, both for migrants and agents — a “ticking time bomb,” in the words of one facility manager. The report echoed findings in May by the department’s inspector general.
“It’s an extraordinarily challenging situation,” McAleenan said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Democrats faulted Trump for not offering an immigration overhaul that could pass a divided Congress. “The president is acting like we are some weak, pathetic country,” said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democratic presidential candidate. “We have the ability to treat human beings humanely. We have the ability to lead our hemisphere in a discussion about how to deal with this refugee crisis,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”
McAleenan said that since the first of the year, 200 medical providers have been added to facilities.
“We have pediatricians in border patrol stations for the first time in history trying to help address conditions where children are coming across 300 a day in ... April and May,” he said.