Texas Dem: Obama should have visited ‘ground zero’

Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) on Sunday said he believes President Obama should have visited the U.S.-Mexico border when he was in Texas last week.

{mosads}“I wish he would have come to the border,” O’Rourke, whose district includes the border town of El Paso, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The freshman lawmaker said he wanted the president to visit McAllen, Texas, which has become operational hub in the crisis to deal with thousand of children who have crossed the border illegally.

O’Rourke called the site “ground zero” for dealing with the situation and a visit there would have allowed Obama to meet with border patrol and immigration officer trying to handle the crisis.

The president has come under harsh scrutiny from Republicans, and some Democrats, for visiting the state but not traveling to the holding facilities.

A visit “would have sent an important message to the rest of the country about seriously he views this situation,” according to O’Rourke.

He called on the administration to address the “core issues,” such as living conditions, in the children’s home countries.