Politics

Pence: ‘The American People Can See This [Border] Crisis Is Real’

REUTERS

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Vice President Mike Pence went to see the for himself just how bad the border crisis is at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pence told reporters that it’s “tough stuff” and that Americans “can see this crisis is real,” after visiting an immigrant detention center in McAllen, Texas.

“This is tough stuff,” Pence continued. “That’s the overcrowding President Trump has been talking about. That’s the overwhelming of the system that some in Congress have said was a manufactured crisis.” (RELATED: Anti-ICE Protestors Replace American Flag With Mexican Flag At Colorado Demonstration)

“But now I think the American people can see this crisis is real,” he said.

EL PASO, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 01: A U.S. Border Patrol agent speaks with Central American immigrants at the border fence after they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico on February 01, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. The migrants, who said they were from Guatemala, turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, seeking asylum in the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

A U.S. Border Patrol agent speaks with Central American immigrants at the border fence after they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico on Feb. 01, 2019 in El Paso, Texas.  (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

While some Democrats have accused the men and women of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of abusing illegal migrants, Pence had nothing but good things to say about the “brave men and women … working tirelessly each day to secure our border.”

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and some Senate Republicans were with Pence as he toured the Donna Processing Facility and McAllen Border Patrol Station in the Rio Grande Valley, a detention center for illegal immigrants. While there, Pence saw the overcrowding that results when 400 men have to occupy cages without beds. (RELATED: Hispanic Pastors Say They Didn’t See Any Horrible Conditions At Border Detention Center They Visited)

Pence commented in a Twitter post that described how the influx of illegal migrants has “overwhelmed our system.” Pence emphasized that this is no “manufactured crisis.”

Pence also took time to criticize CNN’s coverage of his trip, saying the network did not tell the “full story” because it did not provide a complete picture of the detention facilities.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence talks to his supporters as he arrives at the airport in McAllen, Texas, U.S. July 12, 2019. REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence talks to his supporters as he arrives at the airport in McAllen, Texas, U.S. July 12, 2019. REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas

“Rather than broadcast the full story, showing the compassionate care the American people are providing to vulnerable families, tonight CNN only played video of men in the temporary facility and didn’t play any footage of the family facility at all ignoring the excellent care being provided to families and children,” Pence said Friday on Twitter. “Our great @CBP agents deserve better and the American people deserve the whole story from CNN!”

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