HOMESTEAD, Florida — Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) told demonstrators and the assembled media outside the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children that migrant children from Central America “had no choice but to come here” because climate change had ravaged their countries.
O’Rourke said that rising temperatures had created droughts, which made it more difficult for people to grow their own food. That, he said, forced them to undertake the arduous journey on foot to the U.S. border, and to cross illegally.
O’Rourke was the fourth presidential candidate to visit the protest outside the facility, where thousands of teenagers, most of whom arrived unaccompanied, are temporarily housed until they can be handed over to a sponsor in the U.S.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) was the first the protests: he was followed on Wednesday by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and then several other candidates decided to visit as well, turning the protests into something of a presidential pilgrimate. O’Rourke was preceded an hour before by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
O’Rourke, who was greeted and briefed by local activists, turned his visit into a rally, spending roughly half an hour atop a ladder overlooking the fence around the facility.
Trump says he will nominate acting AG Todd Blanche to permanently lead Justice Department
US military kills two alleged narco-terrorists in latest Eastern Pacific strike on drug-trafficking vessel
Rubio torches Democrat after bizarre hearing questions about his shoes: ‘Is this a circus?’
Bessent flips script on Dem senator with reminder about his son’s past ties to Epstein
Watch: Painful Silence Descends After AG Blanche Asks Dem Rep to Provide Source for Wild Epstein Claim, Then She Gives Dumbest Answer Possible
Garth Brooks Nears Unprecedented $2 Billion Deal That Would See Him Relinquish His Music Catalog: Report
Frontier passengers tackle man who allegedly choked off-duty flight attendant, tried to open door mid-flight
Watch: Marco Rubio Stunned as Democratic Rep Completely Loses It and Walks Out of Hearing
Islamic Guerilla Forces Attack Christians in African Country, Slaughter 21
Thune moves to neutralize immigration bill landmines from DOJ lawfare fund
Rep. Al Green tells Homeland Security Sec. Mullin to ‘shut up’ after calling him a racist at hearing
Fox News Poll: Democratic unity, Republican crossovers shape Ohio Senate race
Rubio warns risk of escalation in Russia-Ukraine war is ‘more real than it was two years ago’
Video: WNBA Punishes Brittney Griner for Manhandling Angel Reese in On-Court Clash
Former primary rival resurfaces to challenge scandal-plagued Graham Platner in Maine Senate race
Unlike other candidates, he was not content to peer over the fence, but delivered an impromptu speech.
“He who denies the stranger or the outcast, he also denies America,” O’Rourke said, citing Robert Kennedy.
“Instead of reuniting them [the teenagers] with their families, we are incarcerating them in tents in a for-profit facility with no oversight,” he added. He demanded that the Homestead facility, and every other like it, be shut down.
In Spanish, he declared: “We must reunite every boy and girl here with their family.”
He also urged the small crowd to wave to the teenagers inside the facility, barely visible in the distance, wearing bright orange caps.
Trump says he will nominate acting AG Todd Blanche to permanently lead Justice Department
US military kills two alleged narco-terrorists in latest Eastern Pacific strike on drug-trafficking vessel
Rubio torches Democrat after bizarre hearing questions about his shoes: ‘Is this a circus?’
Bessent flips script on Dem senator with reminder about his son’s past ties to Epstein
Watch: Painful Silence Descends After AG Blanche Asks Dem Rep to Provide Source for Wild Epstein Claim, Then She Gives Dumbest Answer Possible
Garth Brooks Nears Unprecedented $2 Billion Deal That Would See Him Relinquish His Music Catalog: Report
Frontier passengers tackle man who allegedly choked off-duty flight attendant, tried to open door mid-flight
Watch: Marco Rubio Stunned as Democratic Rep Completely Loses It and Walks Out of Hearing
Islamic Guerilla Forces Attack Christians in African Country, Slaughter 21
Thune moves to neutralize immigration bill landmines from DOJ lawfare fund
Rep. Al Green tells Homeland Security Sec. Mullin to ‘shut up’ after calling him a racist at hearing
Fox News Poll: Democratic unity, Republican crossovers shape Ohio Senate race
Rubio warns risk of escalation in Russia-Ukraine war is ‘more real than it was two years ago’
Video: WNBA Punishes Brittney Griner for Manhandling Angel Reese in On-Court Clash
Former primary rival resurfaces to challenge scandal-plagued Graham Platner in Maine Senate race
O’Rourke added: “Donald Trump has done this; its up to change who is in the White House going forward.” However, the facility was first opened under the Obama administration, and briefly closed before re-opening in March 2018.
Gayle Bouley, of Miami, arrived with her family to join the protest, carrying a sign with a yellow Star of David and the words, “Never again is now.”
Asked by Breitbart News if she supported comparisons between the migrant facilities and concentration camps, she said she did.
“I don’t know how look at how you look at it any other way,” she said, stressing that she was both a veteran and a Jew.
Story cited here.
