On the recordJune 26, 2014
I went to the White House last night. The President invited Democratic Members of the Senate, and we met with Cabinet and staff members. One of the President's close advisers I met with described what she had seen in McCallum, TX, and there were tears in her eyes when she told heartbreaking stories of babies, children, and infants who are coming to this country. Many of them are in the hands of smugglers and coyotes who have gotten money from their parents or family to transport them to the border of the United States. She told me the story of a 12-year-old boy, whom I mentioned earlier, from Guatemala. He was put on the top of a freight train and told to hang on for 4 days. For 4 days this 12-year-old boy, scared to death, was on top of this freight train as it barreled through Central America on its way to the United States. He had with him the name of a relative in the United States, and that is it. He was told that as soon as he got across the border, look for somebody in a uniform, don't show any resistance, and present yourself, which he did. He now sits in a facility in Texas. This is a horrible humanitarian situation. The numbers that are involved here--I will give for the record the numbers that have been reported, which are worth noting. Some people may think we are talking about hundreds of children.…
