Lawmaker Records Video Inside Border Facility Showing Migrants Sleeping On Crowded, Concrete Floors

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), whose brother Julian is running for President, managed to sneak a recording device inside a Border Patrol detention facility for migrants in Texas Monday, reports Dayton Daily News.

Nearly a dozen House Democrats toured two troubled Border Patrol facilities on Monday, highlighting what the lawmakers say are inhumane and “unconscionable” conditions inside.

Lawmakers said they had been forced to give up their cell phones before being allowed into the facility, but Rep. Castro was able to take pictures and record video of a group of women sleeping on crowded, concrete floors.

Castro tweeted: “This moment captures what it’s like for women in CBP custody to share a cramped cell—some held for 50 days—for them to be denied showers for up to 15 days and life-saving medication. For some, it also means being separated from their children. This is El Paso Border Station #1.”

This moment captures what it’s like for women in CBP custody to share a cramped cell—some held for 50 days—for them to be denied showers for up to 15 days and life-saving medication. For some, it also means being separated from their children. This is El Paso Border Station #1. pic.twitter.com/OmCAlGxDt8

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019

“All Americans must help to change this system. Thank you to the members who attended today,” he tweeted along with a picture inside a crowded cell.

All Americans must help to change this system. Thank you to the members who attended today: @RepEscobar, @RepJudyChu, @RepPeteAguilar, @NormaJTorres, @RepSylviaGarcia, @AOC, @RepLoriTrahan, @RepJoeKennedy, @RepVeasey, @RepPressley, @RepDean, @RepRashida, @gregstantonaz. pic.twitter.com/CZX0wBwWZZ

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “Members of Congress had to surrender their phones before today’s CBP trip. But @JoaquinCastrotx was able to get a device in. This photo is of the women we spoke to. We asked their permission to photograph – they said yes, please share what’s happening.”

Members of Congress had to surrender their phones before today’s CBP trip.

But @JoaquinCastrotx was able to get a device in. This photo is of the women we spoke to.

We asked their permission to photograph – they said yes, please share what’s happening. https://t.co/4ZhOMlEBVA

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2019

Here’s another photo from inside taken by @JoaquinCastrotx, where we’re trying to comfort women trapped in cells.

This woman was telling me about her daughters who were taken from her – she doesn’t know where they’ve taken them.

We held & listened to them. They were distraught. pic.twitter.com/ca1GwKfDfU

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 2, 2019

In a series of tweets, Castro said that many migrants told him they “had not bathed for 15 days. Some had been separated from children, some had been held for more than 50 days. Several complained they had not received their medications, including one for epilepsy. Members of Congress comforted them when the women broke down.”

Here’s what we found:

At the El Paso Border Patrol Station #1, women from Cuba, some grandmothers, crammed into a prison-like cell with one toilet, but no running water to drink from or wash their hands with. Concrete floors, cinder-block walls, steel toilets.

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019

They asked us to take down their names and let everyone know they need help. They also feared retribution. We then went to the Clint Border Patrol Station that warehouses children and some parents.

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019

And a boy, perhaps three years old, pressed his face against the dirty glass of a locked steel door. He smiled big and tried to talk to us through the thick glass. His family — or another — ate Ramen on the floor a few feet away.

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019