On Saturday, Glenn and Mercury One traveled to the border town of McAllen, Texas to distribute some $2 million worth of aid to local charities and churches. What Glenn saw that day was truly profound, and it caused him to question much of what is being reported when it comes to the so-called humanitarian crisis on our border. On radio this morning, Glenn explained the work of private charities in the region and explained why we must not forget that in order for the government to do less, the American people must do more.
Below is an edited transcript of the monologue:
Catholic Charities is doing a really great job. Sister Norma Pimentel (executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley) is doing a great job. She's not somebody I agreed with on the border – by any stretch of the imagination – but she is a good-hearted woman. And as she took us into the medical facility the Catholic Church has brought in and the town of McAllen is helping pay for and private donations are paying for. Private doctors are volunteering their time. I met a doctor from San Antonio who's coming out just on the weekends to help. Nurses are doing the same thing.
Photo Credit: George Lange/Lange Studio
She showed us the kitchens where they're feeding some of these people. She said, ‘We have to feed them only soup because they can't handle anything.’ Do you remember when the story first came out that probably pissed you off? ‘Oh, yeah, and now they're coming over and they don't like our food. They're complaining about the food.’ No, they're not complaining about the food. Why was that story written that way? They're not complaining about the food. Their bodies can't handle the food. Most of them have been on the road for at least 30 days. They haven't had any real food. It's just like the concentration camps. You can't just open up the doors and say, ‘Okay, everybody have sandwiches.’
She said, ‘We're feeding them soup. But a couple of the women, they've come and the doctors will examine them. They've needed IV bags.’ And that's when I said to this woman – who's very kind and compassionate, big-hearted – ‘Hang on, Sister Norma, just a second here. They're coming to you after being dropped off at the bus depot. They're coming to you after a week at the FEMA detention center. How is it they still can't handle any food? How is it that they are leaving there dehydrated, and you are giving them vaccinations and shots?’ And I think because she didn't want any controversy, she said, ‘Well, the women probably didn't say anything at the detention center.’ And I didn't get into an argument with her. And I don't want to put words in her mouth that she did not say. But I have a hard time understanding how the Catholic Church is asking these questions. How the Catholic Church has a volunteer doctor who is examining people and saying, ‘You need IV you're dehydrated.’ And how our federal government isn't doing that.
Photo Credit: George Lange/Lange Studio
This is the answer why you're not seeing any pictures of this humanitarian crisis because it is the Superdome in several locations. You need to understand and you need to be the voice that tells people, ‘Don't close your heart because of those people who lied about you after Hurricane Katrina. Because there is real need.’ The press must demand to be let in. The only way to stop this is through transparency. We are breaking up families.
Let me tell you something. We are putting traumatized people on a bus and just dropping them off at the Greyhound bus depot. Traumatized people, traumatized children, who may never recover. And how much will they cost us later if you want to boil it down to that? How much will they cost us later? How much damage has been done to these children by the drug lords, by their own families, by the trip? And then by the federal government saying, ‘No hugs. no touching’ and break the family up again and separate them by age. It's a nightmare. We are so much better than this. And this part of it has nothing to do with justice. This has everything to do with mercy. Justice must be done. We must close our border. We must stop this insanity. We are empowering all of the bad people. We are destroying people. It must end now.
But while we declare that, we have got to get our churches involved. We have got to get people who actually care. The government has no heart. It wasn't designed to have a heart. You have the heart. Our churches have the heart. Our relief organizations – they have the heart. They should be the ones doing this. If you want the government to do less, then we must do more. You know the government has no heart. You know your church does have a heart. Find these FEMA centers. Picket, protest, call, do whatever you have to do. Forget about the buses coming in to your towns for a second. Get into those shelters and help these children. Help them. They are alone. They are afraid. They're traumatized. And our government is aiding in the trauma.