Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez compares border detention centers to concentration camps
The freshman congresswoman lashes out about immigration crisis; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
At the beginning of July New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and several others visited Customs and Border Protection facilities in El Paso Sector, and reported what they supposedly witnessed to the entire nation.
When I saw the reports, I was deeply disturbed and decided to come to see these facilities for myself. I visited them on July 29.
What I saw could not have been more different. It’s time to set the record straight.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez compares these facilities to “concentration camps.”
Not only is this deeply offensive, it couldn’t be more false.
On our visits, we saw garages and kitchens converted into storage spaces and clinics. We walked through supply rooms—the CBP’s version of Costco—stacked with everything from toothbrushes and underwear to Kool-Aid and Nutri-Grain bars.
We heard from agents at CBP facilities on how they had to quickly increase contracts for trash pickup and cleaning from a few times a week to daily. We saw charts documenting when each individual was last offered a shower or food. And we saw medical facilities where those with certain transmittable diseases were quickly quarantined and cared for.
If what Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said was true, we would need to take action immediately. Nevertheless, that was not the case.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s most sensational claim was that “Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of toilets.”
There are in fact three lies in that one sentence alone. We toured that same facility and visited the exact cell she claimed where this was happening.
As an emergency room doctor who served as a Special Operations flight surgeon in Iraq and Afghanistan, these claims were particularly concerning to me. I’ve taken the oath to do no harm—and I’ve cared for everyone from newborn babies to our warriors in the Greatest Generation.
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I’ve also cared for everyone from members of SEAL Team Six to Saddam Hussein. It didn’t matter who they were or what they did, as doctors, we are to care for them. And that‘s the same with those in El Paso—whether they’re the immigration judge or an illegal immigrant, as doctors, we would treat them the same.
If what Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said was true, we would need to take action immediately. Nevertheless, that was not the case.
First, the cell doors are not locked—the women could come in and out as needed—to see the medic, to grab a snack, etc. Second, there was a sink with potable water in each cell. And third, no one was drinking water out of toilets, but instead from the potable water in the sink near the toilet.
I spoke to the CBP officer who was there when the woman described to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez that she was getting water from the bathroom. The woman had a thick Guatemalan accent and used the Spanish word for bathroom—not toilet.
I spoke to the CBP officer who was there when the woman described to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez that she was getting water from the bathroom. The woman had a thick Guatemalan accent and used the Spanish word for "bathroom"—not toilet. These are the same sources of water that our Border Patrol agents drink out of. And several members of our congressional delegation tasted the water—it tasted fine (and certainly better than our lead-infused water in Cannon House Office Building).
These are the same sources of water that our Border Patrol agents drink out of. And several members of our congressional delegation tasted the water—it tasted fine (and certainly better than our lead-infused water in Cannon House Office Building).
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We also toured an ICE detention center. There, individuals were well cared for—in fact, the menu for the hot meals was the same as our soldiers at Fort Bliss across town.
Not only has Democratic leadership in Congress failed to provide our border officials what they need, but they have also tied their hands. And now, the most extreme members of the Democratic Party, partnered with a malicious fake news industry, are demonizing them at every turn.
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Despite being greatly strained and underfunded, these facilities underwent routine inspections and consistently exceeded standards. And despite being pulled from their primary mission of securing our border to now prioritizing the humanitarian mission of caring for the migrants, the men and women of CBP, ICE, and other law enforcement agencies put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep America safe.
And, every morning, they put on their uniform to do the best job they can with what they have. They should be commended—not demonized.
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