Laura Ingraham, Joaquin Castro feud on Twitter over migrant detainment facilities

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Fox News host Laura Ingraham feuded Wednesday over the pictures and videos he released showing conditions at migrant detention facilities near the southern border.

In a heated back-and-forth, Castro, who traveled this week with a group of U.S. lawmakers to assess the conditions at U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas, blasted Ingraham as a “white supremacist.”

On Monday, the Texas lawmaker tweeted videos and pictures from the visit, including a clip of a shower migrants use at a facility in Clint, Texas. 

Ingraham responded, saying that the showers reminded her of the Army facilities she saw and used while visiting Iraq. 

“Think @JoaquinCastrotx needs to spend more time overseas w/ our troops bef he calls this inhumane,” she said. 

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 responded by calling Ingraham a “white supremacist,” and criticizing her comparison of the facilities. 

“And, no, I don’t think refugees should be kept in war-zone conditions in the most prosperous nation on earth,” Castro said on Twitter from his official account. 

You’re a white supremacist, Laura.

And, no, I don’t think refugees should be kept in war-zone conditions in the most prosperous nation on earth. https://t.co/1MJiYa3QJV

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 3, 2019

The exchange between Castro and Ingraham comes as the Trump administration comes under heavy scrutiny from lawmakers and the public over conditions at migrant detention facilities near the U.S.-Mexico border. 

And a report this week from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal watchdog found “dangerous overcrowding” and “prolonged detention of children and adults” at facilities in the Rio Grande Valley.

Castro was one of many lawmakers from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus delegation to visit some facilities earlier this week. After his visit, Castro called America’s border patrol system “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,” Castro said in a tweet, before release a series of videos and images. 

One of the videos Castro tweeted showed several women sitting on the floor of a El Paso, Texas, station with blankets. One of the women said she did not have medicine, Castro said. 

This moment captures what it’s like for women in CBP custody to share a cramped cell—some held for 50 days—for them to be denied showers for up to 15 days and life-saving medication. For some, it also means being separated from their children. This is El Paso Border Station #1. pic.twitter.com/OmCAlGxDt8

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) July 1, 2019