Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined America Reports on Friday with an exclusive update on the conditions at two facilities where migrants are being held after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
ABBOTT: We know it’s a crisis. What I have learned over the last hour shows that we are now dealing with a humanitarian disaster.
I need to talk to you about two of the three places where migrants are detained in Texas … In addition to the Dallas place, there is also the place in Carrizo Springs, in southern Texas, as well as in Midland.
What we learned in the last hour in Midland, [are] two things. One is that there is no proven clean running water on site. They used well water that, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, notified the federal government that it was not safe. There is no saying what could be there, including the possibility of arsenic. So the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality assesses the water, the running water. So there is no viable, usable running water on site in Midland.
And on top of that, more than 10% of migrants at the Midland location have now tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, you mentioned the Carrizo Springs location. We also learned in the last hour that more than 10% of the population in that place tested positive for COVID-19 … Every time we are dealing with the large amount of influx of people coming across the border, a humanitarian crisis and would be a major challenge because we would know the extent of the spread of COVID in these areas. It takes place in the course of a pandemic and endangers lives as we speak.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW