[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES FACED AT SOUTHERN BORDER

  (Ms. ESCOBAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, on May 31, the Department of Homeland 
Security's Office of Inspector General published an alarming report 
that confirms the terrible consequences of the Trump administration's 
failure to truly address the humanitarian challenges we face at our 
southern border.
  Instead of working with Congress and leaders in our hemisphere on 
addressing root causes and policy that represents America's values of 
compassion, the administration, instead, chooses cruelty.
  As a result, agents and officers are overworked, exhausted, and 
frustrated. Communities like mine are stretched beyond capacity, and 
migrants are in inhumane conditions.
  The photos and description of the conditions at the Paso Del Norte 
Processing Center in my district are beyond disturbing:
  Migrants standing on toilets to make room and gain breathing space;
  A cell with a maximum capacity of 35 holding 155 migrants;
  Detainees wearing soiled clothing for days or weeks;
  The list goes on.
  I visited the PDN Processing Center when I was home this weekend, and 
one thing is clear: Congress must establish, and DHS must abide by, 
humanitarian standards. Not doing so is immoral and un-American.

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