GOP strikes Democrat’s comments after she confronts acting DHS chief on migrant deaths

Republicans on a House committee on Wednesday voted to strike Rep. Lauren Underwood’s (D-Ill.) comments from the record after she suggested the deaths of migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border are “intentional,” NBC reported.

Underwood tore into acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan in a hearing, days after the announcement that a Guatemalan teen was the fifth minor to die at the border since December.

“With five kids that have died … the evidence is really clear that this is intentional, it’s a policy choice being made on purpose by this administration and it’s cruel and inhumane,” the freshman Democrat, who is a nurse, told McAleenan.{mosads}

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, moved to strike Underwood’s comments.

“You cannot impugn the character of the witness by stating that he intentionally murders children. That is completely inappropriate and her words should be taken down,” Rogers said.

“I did not say it was murder,” Underwood responded. The freshman lawmaker clarified that she believed the Trump administration’s immigration policies are causing preventable deaths of migrants.

Nine Republicans on the committee voted to strike her remarks and seven Democrats voted against the motion. NBC News noted that 10 Democrats were not present for the vote.

McAleenan argued a lack of resources for the department was the issue in the deaths of migrants.

“People keep dying and so this is obviously more than a question of resources,” Underwood responded. 

McAleenan fired back by calling Underwood’s accusation “appalling.”

“Our men and women fight hard to protect people in our custody every single day,” he said. “We’ve asked for [these] resources three weeks ago … and we’ve asked for changes in authorities for the last three years that would have prevented this from happening.”

A fifth migrant child died from the flu recently after being apprehended by authorities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has stopped processing new migrants at the border facility tied to the teen’s death after identifying an outbreak of flu-like symptoms.