By now, you may have heard some of the horror stories reported by the media about the conditions put upon illegal border crossers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to some outlets, children are “being kept in cages” and are “being forced to drink water from toilets.” However, the conditions are not as adverse as the public is being led to believe, according to Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020.
Fresh from a trip to the border, Byrne detailed what he saw during an appearance on Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show.”
“I saw very professional handling of detainees at the ICE detention center,” he said. “Very nice place to stay. I went back to the cafeteria. We saw the food they’re cooking for them — who is preparing it, how it is being prepared. We went in the infirmary and saw how they give them health care. I actually saw a group of children who had actually just been released from detention. And the children were extremely healthy. You could tell they were very happy, basically what you would expect from children no matter what circumstances. I didn’t see anything that would suggest anything other than our personnel down there are following the law, they’re enforcing the law, and once they detain these people, they are treating them with the sort of humane treatment you would expect.”
Byrne compared the border situation to that of prisons in Alabama, which have been under the scrutiny of the Department of Justice for possible Eighth Amendment violations.
According to the Baldwin County Republican, the conditions of the two types of detention facilities are significantly different.
“I have said this before to the press, and that is I’ve been to the Alabama penitentiaries, and I’m telling you the way we’re treating these detainees with ICE is 1,000% better than the way we treat somebody in the Alabama penitentiary.”
Byrne dismissed those stories of cages and toilet water consumption, and said based on what he saw and accounts from others, everything appeared to be “very professional.”
“These stories — they get started, and they get a life of their own,” Byrne said. “So after watching these people today and we had the military officers with us everywhere we went — we actually spent some time with them. I said, alright, what I’ve seen today is very professional law enforcement, very professional detention activities and facilities.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.