Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar shared a second batch of photos from a migrant holding facility along the southern border.
The new photos, which aired during a segment of CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, depicted children packed into crowded rooms, many of them covered in foil blankets as they awaited processing.
NEW: While journalists’ access to migrant facilities continue to be limited, @RepCuellar shares exclusive photos with Face the Nation from inside a customs and border patrol facility during his recent visit in Texas. pic.twitter.com/WEAyjNMzah
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 28, 2021
During the segment, Cuellar said there was a “large number … [of] groups of over 100” crossing the border every single day, along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attempting to open enough shelters to house the migrants.
EXCLUSIVE: BORDER AUTHORITIES RELEASED 2,000 MIGRANTS INTO U.S. WITHOUT NOTICES TO APPEAR IN COURT
The overcrowding shown in the new photos is similar to that seen in the initial photos Cuellar released last week. Those images, released last Monday, revealed migrants laying on mats with space blankets while facing a small television.
Cuellar told the Washington Examiner that he was compelled to leak those images from the Donna, Texas, detention facility in the interest of furthering public knowledge.
“[It’s] the same reason I gave in 2014 when I released photos: because everything was being kept quiet. If you go back, I gave it to the Houston Chronicle at that time. The reason I did that in 2014 and now: People need to know what’s happening on the border,” he said on Wednesday.
The Democrat said he still supports President Biden but wanted to shed light on what he views as a recurring issue.
“Take into consideration the people on the border. That’s all I’m asking. I’m a Democrat. I’m just saying, take us into consideration. Let us help you find a solution because this is not the first rodeo that we’ve been at,” he said. “I was here in 2014. I was here in 2019. Obama. Trump. We’ve seen this before, so we want to be helpful.”
The United States is contending with a historic surge of migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, crossing the southern border. Officials say more than 100,000 migrants were encountered at the border in February, and reports indicate an unprecedented 117,000 migrant children will enter the U.S. by the end of the year. The most recent border surge saw the arrival of 80,000 unaccompanied minors at the southwestern border in 2019.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
While there are no immediate plans for Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris to visit the southern border, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will travel there soon.
“I don’t have any trips to preview for you,” she said. “I can tell you the president is briefed regularly on the situation at the border.”
