SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Vice President Mike Pence visited the border on Friday and blamed Congressional Democrats for the conditions there. (Image: screenshot)
Vice President Mike Pence blamed Democrats on Friday for the overcrowding in camps used to imprison migrants during a visit to the border, an accusation that generated anger from progressives at both the White House and the Democratic congressional leadership.
"You gotta love it when Pence immediately puts complete blame for the horrors he saw on the Dems even after they threw money at monsters," tweeted journalist Lori Lou Freshwater.
In June, House Democrats passed a bill from the Senate that provided $4.6 billion to fund border security and the prisons. The legislation, which was opposed by left-leaning members of the caucus, has exposed a fissure in the party that continues to grow between the new and old guard of the party.
Conditions at the border, as Common Dreams has reported, are bad and getting worse. During his tour, Pence saw those conditions, including a room where hundreds of men were imprisoned behind fencing.
\u201cThis image will go down in history. New video shows shows Mike Pence callously observing and turning his back on severe overcrowding of men in cages at a detainment facility in Texas. \n\n\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1562990276
In the room, as The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey reported, the "stench was overwhelming."
\u201cVP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn\u2019t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn\u2019t for 10-20 days.)\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1562972778
\u201cVP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn\u2019t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn\u2019t for 10-20 days.)\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1562972778
"I'm embarrassed," activist Teymour Ashkan tweeted in response to Dawsey's reporting. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
In comments to CNN Friday, Pence said that the conditions were "the reason why we demanded that Congress provide $4.6 billion in additional support to Customs and Border Protection," and made a distinction between the funding and the origin of the crisis, which he placed, one again, at the feet of the Democratic Party.
"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," Pence told CNN.
Given those remarks, MSNBC personality Chris Hayes mused, the White House might blame Democrats no matter what changes at the border.
"So even thought the House Democrats went along with the McConnell funding bill in the Senate," Hayes said on Twitter, "Pence is still running around blaming 'Democrats in Congress' for not adequately funding their detention camps."
In a tweet, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) made clear that he wasn't about to accept the administration's narrative on the border and that the blame did not rest on Democrats.
"We are working to expose and stop human rights violations at the border, but everyone needs to know that Pence and Trump are making these problems much worse on purpose," Beyer said. "They separate families and detain asylum seekers in huge numbers for political reasons."
"They could stop it," said Beyer.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Vice President Mike Pence blamed Democrats on Friday for the overcrowding in camps used to imprison migrants during a visit to the border, an accusation that generated anger from progressives at both the White House and the Democratic congressional leadership.
"You gotta love it when Pence immediately puts complete blame for the horrors he saw on the Dems even after they threw money at monsters," tweeted journalist Lori Lou Freshwater.
In June, House Democrats passed a bill from the Senate that provided $4.6 billion to fund border security and the prisons. The legislation, which was opposed by left-leaning members of the caucus, has exposed a fissure in the party that continues to grow between the new and old guard of the party.
Conditions at the border, as Common Dreams has reported, are bad and getting worse. During his tour, Pence saw those conditions, including a room where hundreds of men were imprisoned behind fencing.
\u201cThis image will go down in history. New video shows shows Mike Pence callously observing and turning his back on severe overcrowding of men in cages at a detainment facility in Texas. \n\n\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1562990276
In the room, as The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey reported, the "stench was overwhelming."
\u201cVP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn\u2019t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn\u2019t for 10-20 days.)\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1562972778
\u201cVP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn\u2019t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn\u2019t for 10-20 days.)\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1562972778
"I'm embarrassed," activist Teymour Ashkan tweeted in response to Dawsey's reporting. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
In comments to CNN Friday, Pence said that the conditions were "the reason why we demanded that Congress provide $4.6 billion in additional support to Customs and Border Protection," and made a distinction between the funding and the origin of the crisis, which he placed, one again, at the feet of the Democratic Party.
"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," Pence told CNN.
Given those remarks, MSNBC personality Chris Hayes mused, the White House might blame Democrats no matter what changes at the border.
"So even thought the House Democrats went along with the McConnell funding bill in the Senate," Hayes said on Twitter, "Pence is still running around blaming 'Democrats in Congress' for not adequately funding their detention camps."
In a tweet, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) made clear that he wasn't about to accept the administration's narrative on the border and that the blame did not rest on Democrats.
"We are working to expose and stop human rights violations at the border, but everyone needs to know that Pence and Trump are making these problems much worse on purpose," Beyer said. "They separate families and detain asylum seekers in huge numbers for political reasons."
"They could stop it," said Beyer.
Vice President Mike Pence blamed Democrats on Friday for the overcrowding in camps used to imprison migrants during a visit to the border, an accusation that generated anger from progressives at both the White House and the Democratic congressional leadership.
"You gotta love it when Pence immediately puts complete blame for the horrors he saw on the Dems even after they threw money at monsters," tweeted journalist Lori Lou Freshwater.
In June, House Democrats passed a bill from the Senate that provided $4.6 billion to fund border security and the prisons. The legislation, which was opposed by left-leaning members of the caucus, has exposed a fissure in the party that continues to grow between the new and old guard of the party.
Conditions at the border, as Common Dreams has reported, are bad and getting worse. During his tour, Pence saw those conditions, including a room where hundreds of men were imprisoned behind fencing.
\u201cThis image will go down in history. New video shows shows Mike Pence callously observing and turning his back on severe overcrowding of men in cages at a detainment facility in Texas. \n\n\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1562990276
In the room, as The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey reported, the "stench was overwhelming."
\u201cVP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn\u2019t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn\u2019t for 10-20 days.)\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1562972778
\u201cVP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn\u2019t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn\u2019t for 10-20 days.)\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1562972778
"I'm embarrassed," activist Teymour Ashkan tweeted in response to Dawsey's reporting. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
In comments to CNN Friday, Pence said that the conditions were "the reason why we demanded that Congress provide $4.6 billion in additional support to Customs and Border Protection," and made a distinction between the funding and the origin of the crisis, which he placed, one again, at the feet of the Democratic Party.
"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," Pence told CNN.
Given those remarks, MSNBC personality Chris Hayes mused, the White House might blame Democrats no matter what changes at the border.
"So even thought the House Democrats went along with the McConnell funding bill in the Senate," Hayes said on Twitter, "Pence is still running around blaming 'Democrats in Congress' for not adequately funding their detention camps."
In a tweet, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) made clear that he wasn't about to accept the administration's narrative on the border and that the blame did not rest on Democrats.
"We are working to expose and stop human rights violations at the border, but everyone needs to know that Pence and Trump are making these problems much worse on purpose," Beyer said. "They separate families and detain asylum seekers in huge numbers for political reasons."
"They could stop it," said Beyer.