Sen. Brown Says He Was Denied Access To Migrant Detention Center

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) says he was denied access to a Customs and Border Control detention facility along the border that houses children over the weekend. 

Brown wanted to see the facilities holding children that some other lawmakers have described as cramped and unsanitary. Brown told reporters he blames top administration officials for wanting to keep him from seeing inhumane treatment there.

Brown says he was turned away from the facility in Clint, Texas, on the southern border where children were housed. But he doesn’t blame the federal workers who prevented access to the facility.

“I blame the president, vice president and top people at these agencies who clearly are implementing a policy that is anti-American, un-American, and contrary to our values and morally reprehensible when you separate children from their parents. Period," Brown says.

Brown says he is co-sponsoring new legislation with Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) that will mandate health screenings, nutritious food and reasonable basic accommodations for those being held in these facilities. Brown says the family separations need to stop now.

Ohio's other senator, Republican Rob Portman, also visited the border this weekend. Portman says more needs to be done to solve the crisis. He plans to speak to reporters about his experience Tuesday.