Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced late Tuesday that she plans to visit the Homestead detention facility south of Miami before taking the debate stage later Wednesday.
“I’m going to Homestead tomorrow. Come with me,” Ms. Warren, a 2020 presidential candidate and Massachusetts Democrat, said at a town hall-style event in Miami, after an attendee had asked her to bring attention to immigrant detention facilities.
Immigrant advocates have decried the conditions at the Homestead facility, which houses thousands of child migrants. Rep. Karen Bass, California Democrat, said this week that the government is inflicting “punishment” on children at such facilities, some of whom have reportedly been denied toothpaste and soap, as a means to bring Democrats to the negotiating table on border security.
The Democratic-led House passed a $4.5 billion border spending bill on Tuesday that includes provisions intended to bolster conditions at facilities housing unaccompanied children and limit the time period they can be housed at the centers.
California Rep. Eric Swalwell, another 2020 presidential candidate, made a trip to the Homestead facility earlier this week, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas is supposed to make a visit on Thursday.
Ms. Warren and Mr. O’Rourke are among the 10 presidential candidates who will be on the debate stage Wednesday night in Miami.
Mr. Swalwell, along with candidates like former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, are set to debate on Thursday.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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