CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Nanette Barragan

Interview

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BALDWIN: Just in, newly released images from a Border Patrol facility in the Rio Grande Valley. This comes from an inspector general report warning of overcrowding and dangerous conditions.

The report notes that roughly 30 percent of minors at the inspected facilities were being held longer than the 72 hours allowed by law. And that includes some children under 7 years of age, who had been held for more than two weeks waiting to be transferred.

These details are just coming to us a day after a number of Democrats visited these holding facilities for migrants in the El Paso region. There, lawmakers described overcrowding and poor living conditions as -- quote, unquote -- "unconscionable."

Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragan was one of the lawmakers who saw what was happening firsthand.

So, Congresswoman Barragan, thank you so much for being with me.

And let's just start with, you tell me what you saw.

REP. NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN (D-CA): Well, it's heartbreaking.

You're seeing cells full of women, women who are crying and begging for your help. Some have been there for 50 days, 70 days. Brooke, these are temporary holding cells that are meant for people to be in very short time.

And they're being held there. A lot of them don't know what's happening, when they're going to be released. And they were crying. They were sobbing. They were asking for help.

And so we were listening to them. We saw really not as many people as I'm used to seeing. I was quite surprised. I said, where is everybody at? They said, you came at the wrong time.

So it was interesting to see the numbers have certainly fallen. And we saw children, children who -- we had a little 4-year-old boy who was locked in a room. And they locked the kids, so that we wouldn't speak to them.

And there was a 4-year-old boy, saw us, ran up to the Plexiglas on the door to try to touch us, putting his hands up to the Plexiglas, so that he could try to touch us. And you could see he was calling for his father. It was pretty heartbreaking to see that, very devastating.

BALDWIN: It's awful to hear. It's awful to look at.

When you say that they locked the doors, so they -- the kids couldn't talk to you, did they tell you they did that? How do you know? Did you try speaking with them?

DIAZ BARRAGAN: Yes.

They told us from the outset there was a lot of new conditions. I have been to the southern border. I have been to El Paso several times. In the past, they have let me take my telephone. This time, they took it away. An officer even snatched it out of my hands.

This time, they said, you're not allowed to talk to anybody. When we went in before we saw the kids, they said no conversations at all with the children.

And so we have seen new restrictions. And they told us they would lock -- they were going to lock the kids in the room. And so we were trying to communicate through the Plexiglas.

BALDWIN: I want to ask you too about just these agents, right, because, no doubt, when you look at the number of people and the children, these agents are overwhelmed and they're stressed.

I know that Robert Perez, deputy commissioner U.S. Customs and Border Protection, talked about the conditions inside the facilities. Listen to this.

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ROBERT PEREZ, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: The entirety of the system, well beyond CBP, is absolutely oversaturated.

And so what's really the root cause, in my opinion, again, after 26 years of doing this, is an outdated legal framework that has now been exploited by alien smuggling organizations and preyed on these incredibly vulnerable populations, and have literally saturated the entirety of the immigration continuum.

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BALDWIN: And, Congresswoman, just on top of that, a new report shows an 1800 percent increase in border apprehensions of family units from last period to this current one, more than 7,400 -- excuse me -- more than 74,000 families -- excuse me -- and more than 10,000, unaccompanied minors.

How can you, how can members of Congress help alleviate the pressure on these agents?

DIAZ BARRAGAN: Well, I think the first thing we need to do, Brooke, is, we need to invest in these countries.

These folks are fleeing violence. They're fleeing their home countries, not because they want to come here, but because they have to. They feel they have no choice. In some instances, some family members have been killed.

So, one, we certainly have to make sure we're investing in these countries and not cutting off aid, which is something the president has threatened to do.

The other thing we need to do is, we need to make sure that there are alternatives to detention. This administration has been cutting back on alternatives to detention, trying to cut that funding entirely.

He prefers to jail people and put people in these prison conditions to deter people. That's not the way to go. These folks have family members here in the States. They will sponsor them. They will bring them in.

I think those are things we need to also look at to help alleviate this problem.

BALDWIN: What about Senator Cory Booker's plan? He just put his immigration plan out today.

He said that he would use executive action -- if he were to be elected, he would use executive action to overhaul the nation's immigration system, including shutting down detention centers

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[15:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: -- today. He said that he would use executive action if he were to be elected. He would use executive action to overhaul the nation's immigration system. Including shutting down detention centers with inhumane conditions and create new standards for immigrant facilities operated by DHS and shut down those that don't meet those standards. Do you support his plan?

REP. NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN (D-CA): Well I support having humanitarian standards at the border, and that hasn't happened yet. One of my colleagues, Congressman Raul Ruiz has a bill that would do that, humanitarian standards at the border. And he is a physician. He has worked in refugee places before. We need to look at bills like that, and we need to get them passed. You know, in the last supplemental Bill we had, there were no oversite provisions. There were no additional standards that were put in. And that is what we need to do. We cannot continue to right a blank check without implementing humanitarian standards. And if they're not following them, we need to shut them down.

BALDWIN: I know you are a no vote. You did not support the $4.6 billion border bill and it sounds like it wasn't going far enough for you. You are -- the reality is, you're in a divided Congress. You and your colleagues have to work with Republicans. Does voting no on financial aid ultimately make things worse for people who desperately need the help?

BARRAGAN: Well, actually, I voted yes for the House version which has those accountable provisions.

BALDWIN: Initially.

BARRAGAN: Which had a provision that said we could go in. We need to be able to go in unannounced. We're seeing why we need to be able to go in unannounced. And so, we should be able to work together. Democrats and Republicans to provide the funding they need at the border, when it's needed. But we can't do it without some guardrails, some provisions. And so, I was willing, ready and able and I did support the House version of that --

BALDWIN: But you were a no vote on the Senate version.

BARRAGAN: I was a no vote on the Senate version. Again, it was a blank check, no accountability provisions at all.

BALDWIN: OK.

BARRAGAN: And it's not going to fix the problem at the border. It's certainly not going to fix images of these children who are dying.

BALDWIN: It needs fixing. We all -- we're all on the side of right on that one. Nanette Diaz Barragan, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I appreciate you taking the trip down there and reporting back to us.

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