House GOPer: Freeloader Migrants Watch World Cup On ‘Big Screen TVs’

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 file photo, House Financial Services Committee member Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Neugebauer on Monday, March 22, 2010 said he was the l... FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 file photo, House Financial Services Committee member Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Neugebauer on Monday, March 22, 2010 said he was the lawmaker who shouted out "baby killer" when Rep. Bart Stupak, whose vote was crucial to passage of the health care bill, was speaking on the House floor Sunday evening. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, file) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) on Wednesday downplayed the horrible conditions in U.S. Border Patrol detention centers by describing all of the supposed benefits undocumented immigrants are receiving there.

“They belong back with their families. When you look at the lovely way they’re getting treated — they’re getting free health care, free housing, you know, they’re watching the World Cup on big screen TVs,” he said on Sean Hannity’s radio show, as recorded by the Huffington Post.

However, photos of the detention centers show immigrants crammed together sitting on cement floors and benches, and locked up in holding cells. Photos provided to the Houston Chronicle by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) show some of the depressing conditions that undocumented immigrants are living in.

After trips to a detention centers in Arizona and Texas, LA Times reporters Molly Hennesy-Fiske and Cindy Carcamo said the facilities were “crammed,” “unsanitary” and “reeked of sweat.”

Neugebauer said that undocumented immigrants came to the U.S. partially due to the fantastic detention centers.

“What they were told is coming true: ‘Hey, if you get to the U.S., you’re going to really enjoy being there.’ We need to send a signal that if you get here, you’re going right back,” he said. “As soon as you send several planeloads of people back that have paid big money to get their kids here…it’s going to get their attention. We’ve got to send a signal that we cannot be the world’s peacekeeper, and we can’t be the world’s humanitarian relief organization. The American taxpayers can’t be responsible for this.”

Even conservative pundit Glenn Beck recognized the horrible conditions at the detention centers, and on Tuesday said he would be sending food and soccer balls to undocumented immigrants at the border.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: