An impassioned testimony from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was interrupted on Friday after a person at a House Oversight hearing had a medical issue.
During the hearing, lawmakers who recently visited migrant detention facilities detailed the conditions that they encountered.
"This is a manufactured crisis, because the cruelty is manufactured. This is a manufactured crisis because there's no need for us to do this," Ocasio-Cortez said.
“There is no need for us to overcrowd and to detain and under resource. There is no need for us to arrest innocent people and treat them no differently than criminals when they’re pursuing their basic human rights.”
The lawmaker also took a shot at White House adviser Stephen Miller, claiming he was responsible for the Trump administration’s “policy of dehumanization,” which she said “creates a tinderbox of violence and dehumanization where hurt people hurt people.”
Ocasio-Cortez said that women in the detention facilities told her that they were forced to sleep on concrete floors and drink out of toilets.
"And what was worse about this, Mr. Chairman, was the fact that they were American flags hanging all over these facilities, that children being separated from their parents in front of an American flag, that women were being called these names under an American flag. We cannot allow for this," she said.
At that point, Ocasio-Cortez suddenly stopped and House Oversight chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) banged his gavel. Members of Congress and staffers could be seen rushing to the side of the room.
According to The Hill, a Democratic aide passed out.
"Representative Green, who is a medical doctor, just told me she'll be ok. Thank you, representative Green. It's good to have a doctor in the House," Cummings said.
