GOP senators visit border facilities, reveal shocking pictures and data, including 10% COVID positivity
Yesterday, Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz led a delegation of Republican senators on a tour of border facilities, including those holding children, and then held a riveting 45-minute press conference afterward that was carried live on Fox News. When I checked CNN and MSNBC, there was a blackout of this extremely interesting and newsworthy event. A video of the presser is embedded below, and if you missed it, I recommend it for both the information it delivered and for the passion that it evoked.
Some of the 18 senators in the delegation accompanied the Border Patrol on its overnight shift and spoke of what they found. They also tweeted:
1 AM – I spent the last 3 hours with Border Patrol on night shift in McAllen, TX. 18 Senators learning about the huge influx, 3,000 people per day, including unaccompanied children, illegally entering.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) March 26, 2021
Mexican cartels control who crosses the border. A young mother from Guatemala, sitting on an aluminum blanket with her 1-year-old, told me she paid smugglers $6,000.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) March 26, 2021
Border Patrol is overwhelmed, overworked, & discouraged by new policies. Agents took us through a dangerous path to the Rio Grande where we could hear the Cartel members taunting us across the river. Human trafficking, child abuse, & drug smuggling are rampant. This is a crisis.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) March 26, 2021
Sadly it's worse than imagined, to the point where @CBP has been forced to house migrants under a bridge. https://t.co/vkr86cB20e pic.twitter.com/56tfVF44Pe
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 26, 2021
The inflow has gotten so bad, @CBP has put arrows on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande directing immigrants to the processing facilities. Here is a picture of immigrants who just crossed the border following the arrows. pic.twitter.com/2DBgLU4Ixs
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 26, 2021
Here are babies handed over by smugglers. Babies. pic.twitter.com/bECBwBvwvd
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 26, 2021
These are the pictures the Biden administration doesn’t want the American people to see. This is why they won’t allow the press.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
This is the CBP facility in Donna, Texas.
This is a humanitarian and a public health crisis. pic.twitter.com/UlibmvAeGN
These are the pictures the Biden administration doesn’t want the American people to see. This is why they won’t allow the press.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
This is the CBP facility in Donna, Texas.
This is a humanitarian and a public health crisis. pic.twitter.com/UlibmvAeGN
ABC News, to its credit, did cover the delegation, including a segment on its flagship evening newscast. If CBS News covered it, there is no evidence on its webpage today. NBC's coverage, at least online, positioned "dueling" delegations of Democrats and Republicans but devoted nearly all its space to Democrats.
Here is the press conference video:
Photo credit: Twitter video screen grab.