(KGTV) - San Diego-based Rep. Scott Peters described his trip to a migrant detention center near McAllen, Texas, as "stunningly depressing."
"The single men were being held in a series of rooms, each built for say 8-10 people and I think they had 40 people in them ... The faces of these men just looking out with desperate looks through these windows, some of them shirtless, it's obviously very hot in those places," the Democratic congressman said of his July 13 visit.
Peters described the stench from the facility due to the inability for the men to shower. He said another holding facility the size of a convention center, had women and children in rooms divided by chain-link fence.
"For the small children there's a small area where they can have toys. There's a few tragic sights you see of four or five-year-olds who are unaccompanied," he said.
He said San Diego isn't dealing with nearly as many migrants compared to Texas, "the night before we arrived they picked up 2,000 people." He said he's proud of how San Diegans have stepped up, creating a migrant shelter downtown to fill in the gaps created with new laws meant to speed up the process.
"They do the intake, provide medical assessments, and then get these people on their way so that they can be out on their way with their family around the country and ready for their asylum hearing," he said.
Ultimately he said there needs to be change at the southern border and in the countries causing their citizens to flee.
