The crisis at the border is causing several lawmakers to fly down and survey the conditions of asylum seekers along the southern border.
US Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is turning the pressure on the Trump Administration to find a bi-partisan solution following his trip to three detention facilities in Texas.
The senator is demanding immediate comprehensive immigration reform.
"It's unworthy of the greatest nation in the history of the world,” Blumenthal said. "The system is broken and we need rule of law."
On Monday, Blumenthal did not hold back on the issues affecting migrants.
“Many people are being denied showers, basic phone calls even hygiene products,” he said. “The detention centers are severely overcrowded so much that they have no place to lie.”
Blumenthal is asking for more funding for lawyers and immigration court judges.
“We need to start processing more asylum claims in the countries where people live before they leave,” said Blumenthal. “We need to move those cases faster and more fairly in this country through more investment in the immigration courts and we need more judges,”
The call coming after an announcement that thousands of deportation cases involved failure to appear in court. Blumenthal said the process is systematically designed to hold families back from seeking freedom.
“If they aren’t given the date when they are released, how are they going to know when to arrive in court,” said Blumenthal.
The lawmaker also asking for a crackdown on immigration security and notes a need for rule of law.
“All we’re asking for is prompt, fair, effective justice through the immigration courts,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “Border security is important and so is a path to earn citizenship especially for those who lived here for decades.”
Blumenthal said he intends on returning to the border in the future. He’s also hoping the attention to the crisis at the border will improve the process and conditions for those seeking asylum.
