Donald Trump continued his tirade against the media coverage of the migrant detention facilities at the Southern border on Sunday, saying that he wants reporters to visit the centers. According to CNN , the president railed against the “fake” coverage of the conditions in the facilities and promised to allow the media to see things for themselves.
Reporters asked Trump on Sunday if he would be visiting the Customs and Border Protection facility in Clint, Texas. The facility has been the focus of several media reports about the appalling conditions in the detention facilities where people attempting to enter the United States are being held. Most recently, The New York Times covered the conditions at the facility, describing overcrowding, disease, and lack of basic care.
“What we’re going to do is I’m going to start showing some of these detention centers… to the press,” he said.
“I want the press to go in and see them,” Trump added, “We’re going to send people in. We’re going to have some of the press go in.”
Recently, Democratic members of Congress took a look at two Texas facilities. They expressed concern and upset over the conditions within the detention centers.
Trump conceded that the centers were crowded, but said that it’s because of the influx of migrants coming across the border.
“They’re crowded, and we’re the ones who were complaining about they’re crowded,” he said. “They’re crowded because people come up, but now thanks to Mexico it’s slowing down greatly. But it is crowded, but we want to have the press go in and see.”
As The Inquisitr reported, Trump has been railing against the media coverage over the detention centers, calling the stories “phony” and “exaggerated.”
After calling them the “failing” New York Times , the news outlet responded to the president’s taunts, saying that they stood by their reporting and invited readers to see how they conducted their investigation.
We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting on the U.S. Border Patrol’s detention centers. Here’s how we reported today’s front-page article on the squalid conditions at the migrant detention center in Clint, Texas. Read the story here: https://t.co/4TlleeZCTg pic.twitter.com/IrxgOR9EZ1
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 7, 2019
The Times’ coverage of the facilities revealed an environment where children and adults were kept in conditions that were unacceptable. It revealed that chickenpox, scabies, and shingles had spread throughout the center and the diseases weren’t being adequately treated.
Trump administration officials are contradicting reports, based on descriptions from Border Patrol agents and others who’ve visited the sites, that migrant children were being held in horrific conditions in federal detention facilities https://t.co/JWNCAtRhcc
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 7, 2019
Members of the Trump administration have contradicted the reports, saying that while they were facing challenges because of the increased number of migrants being held there, the conditions were still adequate.
“It’s an extraordinarily challenging situation,” said Kevin K. McAleenan, acting secretary of homeland security. “I’m not denying that there are challenging situations at the border.”
