Four members of Congress retold in witness testimony to their fellow lawmakers Friday morning what they saw and experienced during a recent visit to a U.S. border detention facility in Texas, sparing no graphic or emotional detail.
Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) spoke as witnesses to the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on conditions in migrant camps along the southern border which are being run by the federal government.
In her remarks, Escobar said the treatment of migrants was an example of the "incompetence and cruelty that has created a human rights crisis in our own country."
Our government, at the hands of @realDonaldTrump, has exhibited an incompetence and cruelty that has created a human rights crisis in our own country.
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) July 12, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez, in an emotional delivery, recounted the treatment of the women she talked to and decried the fact that the horrors on the border were being perpetrated under the American flag.
Rep. @AOC, who recently toured border facility, testifies at hearing on Trump administration's border policies: "This is a manufactured crisis, because the cruelty is manufactured. This is a manufactured crisis because there's no need for us to do this." https://t.co/dMeVjlPoyT pic.twitter.com/V0DU7t9PbD
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) July 12, 2019
In her testimony, Tlaib broke down while talking about the "fear" in the eyes of the victims of President Donald Trump's war on immigrants.
.@reprashida @Rashidatlaib: "The fear in their eyes won't be forgotten…the suffering in these illegal camps cannot be forgotten." pic.twitter.com/4VqXvAr4K8
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 12, 2019
Finally, Pressley delivered a powerful speech that called on Congress to help the people being held in the horrible conditions.
I cannot forget what I saw at the border. I refuse to. It robs me of sleep and peace of mind. But it pales in comparison to the pain felt by families that have been robbed of their liberty, their rights, and the lives of their babies and loved ones. #CloseTheCamps
— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) July 12, 2019
Watch the testimony from the four lawmakers in full and the ongoing hearing:
