Trump Says Migrants Living ‘Far Better’ in Detention Than at Home

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said that undocumented migrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border are living in better and safer conditions than in their home countries, after public outcry over the detention of children and adults in unsanitary conditions.

“Many of these illegal aliens are living far better now than where they” came from, “and in far safer conditions,” Trump said Wednesday in consecutive tweets. “No matter how good things actually look, even if perfect, the Democrat visitors will act shocked & aghast at how terrible things are.”

The Trump administration has come under intense scrutiny in recent days amid reports of migrants, including children, being held in appalling conditions. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week accused U.S. border agents of conducting “psychological warfare” against detained migrants who were allegedly told to drink water from toilets if they were thirsty.

“Our Border Patrol people are not hospital workers, doctors or nurses. The Democrats bad Immigration Laws, which could be easily fixed, are the problem. Great job by Border Patrol, above and beyond,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

Read more: Ocasio-Cortez Says Detained Migrants Told to Drink Toilet Water

Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, took part in a delegation organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to El Paso and Clint, Texas, to investigate facilities used to detain undocumented immigrants. She said on Twitter she “forced” herself into a cell to speak to women, who described “their treatment at the hands of officers as ‘psychological warfare' - waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc.”

A total of 29,153 undocumented migrants were apprehended last month, up more than 200% from June 2018, and an increase of 23% from May of this year.

Later in the afternoon, Trump tweeted that migrants should stay away if they're displeased with conditions in U.S. facilities.

“If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come. All problems solved!” Trump tweeted.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Gallu in Washington at jgallu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Justin Blum

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