10h..VP and Mrs Pence arrive in McAllen, Texas for visit to border detention facility with GOP members of Congress. Greeting supporters on tarmac, @VP shook hands, signed autographs, but no high heel shoes.
VP and Mrs Pence and some GOP Senators, receive briefing at Donna Processing Center in McAllen, Tx, for those entering US illegally. Shelves and tables stocked with food, water, diapers and other necessities, VP told families processed there and all are released after processing.
.8h..At @CBP in McAllen, TX, @VP says he and @SecondLady found it "heartbreaking" talking to children at the Donner Processing Center talk about having walked for 2 and 3 months through Mexico to reach the US southern border. Says Congress needs to end the "catch-and-release" policy.
..6h..VP Pence also got first hand look at detention cages holding adult men at the Border Patrol Station in McAllen, TX. Press pool reports it was crowded, hot and smelled of sweat. The detainees started shouting for attenion when they saw the TV camera. Pool photo: Mariam Khan, ABC.
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..5h.."I was not surprised by what I saw," said VP Pence of the overcrowded detention facility for adult men. Pence said he knew it was "overcrowded" and "overwhelmed." But he was confident they are provided food and water and "access to hygiene."
VP Pence says his visit to McAllen shows the border crisis is real, the system is overcrowded and overwhelmed but border personnel doing a noble & compassionate job. He says the way to solve the crisis is to reform US asylum laws. He says he thinks most Democrats know it.
.5h..From press pool: VP's office said it had instructed the Border Patrol not to clean up or sanitize the McAllen facility beyond what is routine so the American people could see the extent of the crisis there in terms of overcrowding.
