Vice President Mike Pence, along with the second lady, Karen Pence, and a congressional delegation traveled to the Rio Grande Valley on Friday to tour immigration facilities.
THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
The congressional delegation consisted only Republican members including: Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and Congressman Tom Rice (R-South Carolina). No Democratic members of the committee made the trip to McAllen, even though they were invited, according to the delegation.
VICE PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN MCALLEN
Air Force Two touched down at McAllen-Miller International Airport just before 1:30 p.m. to the greeting of numerous local and state officials, as well as supporters of Pence.
VISIT TO DONNA HOLDING FACILITY
Pence’s first stop was the Donna holding facility. During the tour, the Vice President and the second lady were shown around the facility and even met with some of the immigrants being held at the facility.
During the tour, Pence, along with the congressional delegation saw several immigrants sleeping on what appeared to be soft mattresses on the floor. In one instance, Pence asked the immigrants some questions while they were watching cartoons on a television that was set up in the room. At one point, Pence asked a group of immigrants questions such as, “Are you comfortable?”, “Are you being well taken care of?”, “You got enough food?”, “You got enough snacks?”, “Do you have a place to get washed up and clean?” To which the group all said, “Yes.”
ROUNDTABLE AT MCALLEN BORDER PATROL FACILITY
Following the tour at the Donna holding facility, Vice President Pence and the congressional delegation participated in a roundtable briefing with Border Patrol.
“While some Democrats in Washington, D.C. referring to U.S. Customs and Border facilities as concentration camps, well what we saw today, was a facility that is providing care that every American would be proud of,” said Pence.
During the roundtable, several members of Border Patrol spoke with the Vice President, along with the committee, about several issues Border Patrol Agents are currently facing, including hospital trips made daily.
WATCH THE FULL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION BELOW:
VICE PRESIDENT PRESS CONFERENCE
Following a tour of the McAllen processing facility, the Vice President, along with the congressional delegation, conducted a press conference with members of the media.
It was during the press conference that Pence reiterated again that the issue along the southern border is a crisis.
During the conference, Pence said he was, “deeply moved to see the care that our Customs and Border Protection personnel are providing.” Pence also said he was “equally inspired” while visiting the McAllen processing facility saying, “By the efforts of Customs and Border Protection doing a tough job in a difficult environment.”
Pence called on Congress to “do more” to help solve the situation along the southern border.
Pence mentioned that President Trump has been taking action on the crisis, “Since the first day of this year, President Trump has taken action to address the crisis on our border.” He said, “We declared an emergency so we could begin to build the wall. We called on Mexico to do more than ever before. And as I stand before you today, we have seen more than a 25% reduction in the last 30 days, in the number of illegal immigrants coming across our border. We believe that’s largely going to the efforts that Mexico has made and President Trump and I are truly grateful for the efforts of the Mexican government.”
WATCH A PORTION OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE BELOW:
Pence’s visit comes about six months after President Donald Trump came to the Rio Grande Valley for a visit along the southern border at Anzalduas Park.
Late Friday evening, CBS 4 learned that Democratic members of Congress will be in the Rio Grande Valley on Saturday. We will have coverage of their visit on our Facebook page.
