Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez And Rashida Tlaib Break Down In Tears While Testifying About Border Detention Centers
Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib broke down in tears while testifying about conditions at the southern border, Newsweek reports.
Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib, who paid a trip to a number of detention centers along the U.S.-Mexico border, testified on Friday before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, discussing what they had seen the facilities.
Ocasio-Cortez, who voluntarily testified under oath following Republicans’ accusations of lying, recounted meeting with a group of women while visiting a detention camp in Southwest Texas.
“They were put into a cell and the sink was not working so they were told to drink out of a toilet bowl, I believed them,” she said, in what appeared to be a response to Republican lawmakers’ claims that migrants detained at the border are not actually forced to drink water out of toilet bowls.
“I believed them when they said they were sleeping on concrete floors for two months,” she added, beginning to cry.
“The children were being separated from their parents in front of an American flag, that women were being called names under an American flag.”
Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was also emotional. The congresswoman repeatedly broke down in tears, pausing her speech to recompose herself.
“We do have a crisis at our border, it is one of morality,” Tlaib said, proceeding to describe what she had seen at the border. The representative referenced her conversations with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, who she claims told her that they simply cannot take care of the migrants properly.
Some of them even said that the family separation policy isn’t working, complaining about having to act as medical care workers and social workers, according to Tlaib.
The progressive Democrat also slammed the Republican Party for allowing the crisis at the border to escalate, accusing the Trump administration of creating “cruelty” and sending a message that migrants are “not welcome” in the United States.
WATCH: Rashida Tlaib says she has been "deeply haunted" by migrant detention: ""The suffering in these camps cannot be forgotten" https://t.co/KsfXVab6QM pic.twitter.com/7iFbaF3Bnv
— The Hill (@thehill) July 12, 2019
As Newsweek notes, Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib have attracted criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers for referring to migrant detention centers as concentration camps.
Both lawmakers have been targeted by their party’s leadership as well, as have other progressives in the House.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly criticized progressive members of her caucus, following their push-back against her decision to pass a Senate bill expanding funding for the Trump administration’s immigration authorities with no strings attached.
President Trump weighed in on the situation as well, siding with Pelosi — who he had backed for speaker in 2018 — and defending her against criticism.
