Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Wednesday spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the Democratic caucus' trip to the southern border, where they toured multiple facilities in Texas. What's interesting though, is Tlaib said exactly what Border Patrol agents have been saying for years.
"I can tell you that the couple of agents that have taken me aside were imploring me to please, report back what's happening here because they don't want any part of it anymore," Tlaib explained. "And they do actually feel like it's making us less safe because they're not at the border. You know, in their eyes, they're not social workers. They're not supposed to be watching over 4-year-olds, you know, some nine and 10 year olds. These are not agents that are equipped to taking care of them and throwing money at it is not going to fix it."
She then used the opportunity to hammer on the Trump administration for not "fixing" the problem.
"Mr. President needs to stop tweeting and actually fix it," Tlaib said.
For years Border Patrol agents have repeatedly asked for additional resources. We saw it happen in 2014, when a surge of illegal aliens flocked to our southern border. Detainees were being bused from Texas to other parts of the country for processing because the system was so overwhelmed. Agents were physically pulled from the southern border to process detainees, leaving our nation wide open to anyone and everyone wanting in. But, as always, nothing changed. The Obama administration rode out the public relation crisis, which essentially put a band aid on a major wound.
Fast forward five years later and here we are...again. Going through the same crisis but it's magnified. You know why? Because people across the world know that if our system is extremely overwhelmed, they can come to America, ask to see an immigration judge, get a court date and then disappear into our nation never to be seen again. They know about catch-and-release. They know about the welfare benefits we have. And they know they can obtain them if the make it to our border.
Democrats, like Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez, want President Trump to take action but they're literally tying his hands.
Trump wants funding to build a border wall, Democrats say no.
Trump wants to fix the loopholes in the asylum law, Democrats say no.
Trump wants additional funding for basic necessities, Democrats say no.
What exactly do Democrats expect Trump to do? Congress has the power of the purse. Any funding to purchase beds, toiletries, food, etc. come from Congress. When Trump declared a national emergency to reallocate funds for the border wall, what did Democratic members of Congress do? They complained that Trump didn't respect Congress' power to allocate funds.
Is it going to take another five years for our Border Patrol agents to get the support, technology and funding they desperately need? Is it going to take even more caravans from Central America before Democrats wake up and realize this isn't just a humanitarian issue, but a national security threat?
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaks about her experience visiting migrants detained in Border Patrol facilities: "We are creating a generation of children who will never forget what we did to them" https://t.co/833N9LV9L0 pic.twitter.com/fhEAcgPVSE
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 3, 2019