Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) appeared on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday to discuss the immigration crisis plaguing America's southern border. Host Martha Raddatz pressed Tlaib on the fact that she voted against funding a $4.6 billion emergency border bill, something Customs and Border Patrol officials have said are desperately needed.
Tlaib defended her position and even became defensive about her vote.
"Do you know what the CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] agents on the ground said, Martha? Martha, do you know what they said?" Tlaib asked. "What did they say on the ground? Ask a CBP agent. That's the one thing that I can [do is] talk to the secretary [McAleen] and he can say throw more money at a broken system, an inhumane system."
"Three agents took me aside, away from my colleagues, and said more money isn't going to fix this, that they were not trained to separate children, that they don't want to separate children, a two-year-old away from his mother. That's not what they were trained for. That's not what they signed up for in their service to our country," she explained, rather defensively. "They signed up to protect our border, not to separate children, not to put people in cages. They all said, 'This is a broken system. This is inhumane.' These are also human beings. These are also mothers and fathers themselves."
So, wait a minute. Democrats complain about the conditions that detainees are living in yet they refuse to vote to allocate funding to provide better conditions. What kind of logic is that?
Border Patrol Commissioner Kevin McAleenan has said, for months, that ICE and Border Patrol resources are running thin. Agents are seeing unprecedented numbers of family units and unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the border. There are so many people flocking to our southern border that there is not enough physical space to contain them while they're processed. There are so many people flocking to our southern border that there aren't enough agents to process the people. CBP has had to pull agents from the physical border to process people because they're that overwhelmed.
The Trump administration pushed for additional beds for detainees and Democrats refused to include that in a bill. But they claim to be the party of the migrant.
They scream "humanitarian crisis" yet the Democrats have drug their feet on this issue, complained time and time agin about the Trump administration's so-called "lack of action." Then they complain when President Trump declares a national emergency to fix the very broken system the Democrats refuse to do anything about.
You can't have it both ways, Dems. Fixing the system starts somewhere. You didn't want the border closed. You didn't want more beds for detainees. You didn't want deportations. What do you want?
Instead of continually complain, it's time to actually propose solutions. Stop complaining and start working.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib defends voting against $4.6 billion emergency border bill: "Three agents took me aside, away from my colleagues and said, 'more money is not going to fix this," adding, "they all said this is a broken system." https://t.co/hPwYH6mm4T pic.twitter.com/YIeDsRO0nu
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 7, 2019
Join the conversation as a VIP Member