Senate Democrats staged a press conference near a southern border detention facility in an effort to portray President Trump as cruel for confining illegal immigrants along the southern border.
“What I saw today is a stain, a dark chapter of the nation’s history,” Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, said.
The senators traveled to detention facilities in McAllen, Texas, looking for examples of inhumane treatment.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, interviewed a young boy who said he had not been able to brush his teeth.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York described the conditions in the detention facilities as “inhumane.”
Democrats blamed Trump.
“It’s a humanitarian crisis of Donald Trump’s making,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said.
Democrats for months accused Trump of inventing a crisis on the border in order to win federal funding for a southern border wall.
More than 100,000 illegal immigrants, however, have poured over the border in each of the past few months, overwhelming border facilities.
The migrants are seeking to win asylum.
President Trump and GOP lawmakers want to change the asylum laws and to require illegal immigrants to seek refuge in Mexico, not the United States, where the vast majority remain even after their claim is rejected by an immigration judge.
On Friday, Democrats at the border rejected changing the asylum laws.
“It’s a definition that applies across the board, around the world,” Schumer said. “We need to make sure America stands by its values. We have to have a policy that reflects the values of this country.”
Schumer said only “a minuscule” number of illegal immigrants are criminals and most are seeking safety for their families.
“If you listen to the president you would think they are all criminals,” Schumer said.
Democrats called for comprehensive immigration reform but said in the meantime, the illegal immigrants should be allowed into the country to seek asylum and allowed to leave the detention centers.
“We cannot forget our humanity,” Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said. “These are human beings.”
