CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Veronica Escobar

Interview

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[09:33:08] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: In hours, funeral services will be held for the migrant father and daughter from El Salvador who died trying to seek a better life in America. This image of them, always difficult to see, on the banks of the Rio Grande River ignited uproar last week over the humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

Also today, a handful of lawmakers will soon tour several controversy detention centers in El Paso and Clint, Texas. The question is, what are the conditions actually like inside those buildings.

Joining me now is one of the leaders of the today's tour, Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar of Texas. She represents El Paso. She's a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

REP. VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-TX): Good morning. Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: So I want to ask you just about, you're going to tour this facility later this morning. CNN, I should note, we were granted access last week and were only shown well-lit areas where kids have toothbrushes, et cetera. Of course there have been accounts that show that's not the case for many of these migrants here.

What will you be allowed to see today and are you confident that you're going to see what the actual conditions are for these migrant children?

ESCOBAR: Jim, the reality at many of these facilities is that the conditions change day to day. And because, as members of Congress, we don't have the ability, even with our oversight obligation, to just drop in and present ourselves unannounced, it's hard to know exactly what the conditions are on any given day. So we have to plan ahead. We have to request to be allowed access inside.

What I'm hoping is, is that my colleagues and I will be able to see everything. I'm very curious about certain areas that my own staff was not granted access to when they toured. We are members of Congress. We should be granted that access. We will have leadership from CBP with us. And I think that it's very important that all of us understand the -- number one, for the needs of each facility, but also in terms of who's to be held responsible for the conditions of many of these facilities.

[09:35:20] SCIUTTO: So, there's the question of the conditions. That is one. But there's also the question of the numbers along the border. And in May of this year, these -- these are the latest figures, 132,887 people apprehended between -- just between ports of entry. You see the increase there of more than 30,000 in one month. And I'm curious, I know you want to address the conditions so these children are not held, well, like prisoners in effect here. Actually, in some cases, worse than the conditions prisoners face here. But how do you address this issue of the numbers of people coming across the border?

ESCOBAR: Yes. Yes. The fact of the matter, Jim, is that it's going to take tremendous leadership by all leaders of nations in this hemisphere. We are -- we're seizing -- we're seeing actually a seasonal decrease in the numbers. We're also seeing, I think, I suspect, a dramatic decrease because of what Mexico is doing. We don't know if that's the case yet. Time will tell.

But the truth of the matter is, until we address the root causes of the migration patterns that we've been seeing now for five years, then we're not going to change things. This could potentially be our new normal. It's what I have told my community, El Paso. We have been on the front lines. We have been seeing the dramatic numbers increase.

The other challenge is, if we don't have an agency, which is a very well-funded agency, the Department of Homeland Security, that is able to adapt and shift its mode of operations, then we're always going to be seeing a crisis. We should be able to tell what the patterns are in advance. We've seen them, as I mentioned, for five years. We should be able to adapt. We need leadership that's able to do that for us. But we've got to get to the root cause or things will not change.

SCIUTTO: OK, let me ask you, though, about the politics, because, of course they -- they influence the policy here. Democrats, by bigger and bigger numbers, we'll put the numbers up on the screen, even Democrats increasingly see the situation at the border as a crisis. From January of this year to April, you see from 7 percent of Democrats thinking so to 24 percent. Larger figures in the public from 24 to 35 percent.

So voters are seeing this as a crisis as well. And I -- and I wonder if that is influencing the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's position on things like money at the border. What is your view? Are your constituents shifting in the way they see this as less a Trump problem and more a national security problem for the U.S.?

ESCOBAR: That's a very good question. I can tell you definitely in my district, whereas a year ago we were seeing health care as the number one issue for my constituents, immigration has now essentially flipped that. So health care is the number one issue for my -- I mean immigration is now the number one issue for my constituents.

And it is because it's in the news all the time. The conditions are in the news. The situation is in the news. The visuals -- you know some really just incredibly tragic photos that we've seen are in the news, which is good. The United States needs to see what is happening. Americans need to see what is happening.

But I will tell you, the Congress approved a supplemental package in February. So it's not accurate for anyone to believe that we haven't been trying to fund it, deal with it, address it, and that we just did it recently with this second supplemental. This is the second supplemental in the same fiscal year of emergency funding.

What -- what I think is important for the public to know and for Americans to understand, yes, this has been a challenge. These large numbers are a challenge for our agents, for our communities, for our agencies, for the federal government. But what turns it into a crisis, Jim, is the way that we treat these migrant families. When you -- when you put that many individuals -- especially children, especially vulnerable folks -- in one concrete cell, of course it's going to be inhumane and horrific and a crisis.

Because this administration is determined to jail and incarcerate and detain as many people as possible, that's why we have this crisis. We have alternatives to detention. We have other programs that are effective that have proven to work but that this administration has chosen not to use. That's why there's a crisis.

SCIUTTO: Well, congressman, can't -- please let us know what you see inside those facilities. We want to know what you find there as you bear witness.

ESCOBAR: I will

SCIUTTO: And you're always welcome back on the broadcast.

[09:40:09] Congresswoman Escobar, thank you very much.

ESCOBAR: Thank you, Jim.

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