Vice President Mike Pence has admitted that conditions for immigrants held in an overcrowded, foul smelling Texas holding facility as unacceptable – as thousands took to the streets in downtown Chicago to protest Trump’s immigration policies.
Pushed on whether the state of the McAllen facility – which contains some 400 male detainees, reportedly without mats or pillows – is acceptable, he said: ‘No, it’s not’.
‘That’s the reason why we demanded that Congress provide $4.6 billion in additional support to Customs and Border Protection,’ the vice president added.
‘The McAllen station, where our cells are overflowing… ought to be a very clear message to every American that the time for action is now and the time for Congress to act to end the flow of families that are coming north from Central America to our border is now,’ he told CNN.
The damning admission comes on the same day that thousands marched in Chicago over Trump’s handling of the immigration crisis, with hundreds or thousands of displaced South and Central Americans travelling en masse towards US borders.
Pushed on whether the state of the McAllen facility – which contains some 400 male detainees, reportedly without mats or pillows – is acceptable, he said: ‘No, it’s not’
‘The McAllen station, where our cells are overflowing… ought to be a very clear message to every American that the time for action is now and the time for Congress to act to end the flow of families that are coming north from Central America to our border is now,’ he told CNN
The protesters at Saturday’s march belted chants critical of President Donald Trump and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Many of them carried placards with messages including ‘No kids in cages’ and ‘Abolish ICE.’
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the protest was peaceful and that there were no arrests. He says there were an estimated 5,000 protesters at its peak.
The protest came a day before the planned immigration roundups are expected to happen.
Immigration demonstrations also have been held in other cities, including Phoenix, where dozens of protesters blocked a downtown street and disrupted light rail traffic Friday night. Police arrested 16 people in Phoenix, which is not expected to be among the cities where Sunday’s immigration operations will take place.
Earlier in the day, as Pence inspected the McAllen facilty, the cages were reportedly so crowded that it would have been impossible for all the men to lie down at the same time.
The damning admission comes on the same day that thousands marched in Chicago over Trump’s handling of the immigration crisis, with hundreds or thousands of displaced South and Central Americans travelling en masse towards US borders
The protesters at Saturday’s march belted chants critical of President Donald Trump and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Many of them carried placards with messages including ‘No kids in cages’ and ‘Abolish ICE’
Vice President Mike Pence tours the Donna Soft-Sided Processing Facility in Donna, Texas
Some of the people Pence met said they had been there for 40 days or longer, were hungry, and wanted to brush their teeth
Some of the men said that they had been there for 40 days or longer, were hungry, and wanted to brush their teeth. Some agents guarding the cages wore face masks.
Water was available outside the fences, the pool reporter said, citing agents who said the men had access to the water when journalists were not present.
After visiting the facility, Pence said at a news conference that he was not surprised by what he saw.
He said: ‘I knew we’d see a system that was overwhelmed. This is tough stuff.’
A patrol agent, Michael Banks, said the men were allowed to brush their teeth once a day.
He said: ‘We currently have 88,000 toothbrushes.’
Asylum seekers, including children, are being held in the intake room at the Donna processing facility in Texas
Many of the men had not showered for 10 to 20 days because the facility did not previously have showers, according to Banks, who said it now had a trailer shower. Banks said the longest any man had been at the facility was 32 days.
The men were given three hot meals a day from local restaurants but could not have cots for sleeping because there was not enough room for them.
Another 275 women were living in repurposed Army tents, he said.
Pence said the center at McAllen was a ‘prime example’ of why the United States must secure its borders.
He later tweeted: ‘The facility is overcrowded and our system is overwhelmed. It is time for Democrats in Congress to step, do their jobs, and end this crisis.’
The conditions in the facility are reportedly dirty and foul-smelling, with many of the men not having showered for up to 20 days
After visiting the facility, Pence said at a news conference that he was not surprised by what he saw
President Donald Trump, a Republican, has made cracking down on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his administration, which is trying to deal with a surge of mostly Central American families crossing the US-Mexico border.
Pence also viewed a separate facility for families, divided into rooms to house women with children, men with children, unaccompanied minors and entire family units.
Inside, migrants lay on tinfoil-like blankets and some children watched television. Two of the children said they had walked for two to three months before arriving at the facility.
Pence said the center at McAllen was a ‘prime example’ of why the United States must secure its borders
Pence tweeted: ‘The facility is overcrowded and our system is overwhelmed. It is time for Democrats in Congress to step, do their jobs, and end this crisis’
Inside, migrants lay on tinfoil-like blankets and some children watched television