Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX) called Laura Ingraham "a white supremacist" on Wednesday during a heated Twitter feud with the Fox News host over migrant detention centers.
Castro, 44, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, smuggled a device into the El Paso Border Patrol Station on Monday to photograph the conditions inside a migrant detention facility. The 38-member caucus led a trip to Texas for several members of the House of Representatives — including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Judy Chu (D-CA), Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Castro — to assess the conditions at the facilities.
Following their trip, Castro declared in a long Twitter thread that the women were "crammed in a prison-like cell" that had a toilet but lacked running water, alongside several images and videos of inside the facility. According to the lawmaker, the group also visited the Clint Border Patrol Station, a location that recently made headlines for allegedly mistreating children being held inside.
Ingraham on Wednesday responded to a video Castro posted of a shower for detainees at the Clint facility, saying that the showers are "similar to Army facilities in Iraq I saw (and used) visiting Camp Victory & Balad." "Think @JoaquinCastrotx needs to spend more time overseas w/ our troops bef he calls this inhumane," she added.
Similar to Army facilities in Iraq I saw (and used) visiting Camp Victory & Balad. Think @JoaquinCastrotx needs to spend more time overseas w/ our troops bef he calls this inhumane. https://t.co/NktJP9r9C4
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) July 3, 2019
Castro fired back at Ingraham by calling her "a white supremacist" and tore down her defence of the facilities. "You're a white supremacist, Laura," the lawmaker tweeted. "And, no, I don't think refugees should be kept in war-zone conditions in the most prosperous nation on earth."
The exchange was not the first time Ingraham, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, has defended the conditions inside migrant detention centers. Last June, the Fox News host called detention centers housing immigrant children "essentially summer camps" during her show The Ingraham Angle after some lawmakers labelled the facilities "cages."
Following his visit, Castro tweeted: "Our border patrol system is broken. And part of the reason it stays broken is because it's kept secret. The American people must see what is being carried out in their name."
"Many said they had not bathed for 15 days. Some had been separated from children, some had been held for more than 50 days. Several complained they had not received their medications, including one for epilepsy. Members of Congress comforted them when the women broke down," Castro added in another tweet.
Ocasio-Cortez also shared an image to Twitter of a migrant woman hugging her as she cried about having her children taken away from her. "She doesn't know where they've taken them," the congresswoman tweeted.
