Rep. Mike Levin Tours San Diego Border Facilities

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Credit: Office of Rep. Mike Levin

Above: Reps Katie Porter, D-Irvine, Mike Levin, D-Oceanside and Juan Vargas, D-San Diego at the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station on August 28, 2019.

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Congressmen Mike Levin and Juan Vargas visited the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station, the Otay Mesa Detention Center and a migrant shelter to get a first-hand look at the conditions inside some of San Diego's immigration detention facilities.

Aired: August 29, 2019 | Transcript

On Wednesday two San Diego-area Democratic members of Congress got a first-hand look at the conditions inside some of San Diego's immigration detention facilities.

Congressmen Mike Levin and Juan Vargas toured the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station, the Otay Mesa Detention Center and a migrant shelter with Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine.

“I was grateful for the opportunity to tour local border facilities, sit down with asylum seekers, and meet with immigration officials and agents,” Levin said in a statement. “While conditions at these facilities may be better than others along the border, overcrowding has largely been reduced as a result of the Trump Administration’s harmful policy of sending asylum-seekers back to dangerous cities in Mexico, and some migrants appear to not be receiving adequate legal counsel.”

The visit coincided with the release of a new UC San Diego report that highlights unsanitary conditions and abuses at migrant detention centers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rep. Levin joined Midday Edition Thursday to talk about what he learned from his trip to the border and what Congress is doing to address conditions at migrant detention facilities.