Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 7-5-19

News Around The Nation
Migrants Told To Drink From Toilet In Texas Cells With No Running Water
Rep. Alexandria Oca- sio-Cortez on Monday de- scribed the abysmal conditions she and other members of the Congres- sional Hispanic Caucus and other House Democrats saw after visiting two immigra- tion detention facilities in Texas, and said she'd learned that Customs and Border Pa- trol officers told detained women to "drink out of the toilets."
Rep. Joaquin Castro
tweeted a picture of migrant women members of Congress spoke with at the Clint Bor- der Patrol Station on Mon- day.@JoaquinCastrotx
“After I forced myself into a cell w/ women & began speaking to them, one of them described their treat- ment at the hands of officers as ‘psychological warfare’ —
waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc.,” she wrote. “Tell me what about that is due to a “lack of funding?”
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was part of a delegation of more than a dozen House members who toured two centers in El Paso and Clint, Texas.
"We came today and we saw that the system is still broken," said Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-Texas, who chairs
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, at a press conference after their tour. "These are the conditions that have been created by the Trump admin- istration. These are the inhu- mane conditions that folks are facing," he said, as he and the other lawmakers were trying to speak above the din of hecklers shouting, "Amer- ica First!"
Rep. Marc Veasey, also from Texas, wrote on Twitter, "we found children barely older than toddlers in cells; families that had been sepa- rated from one another; holding centers that were lit- tle more than animal sheds, with chainlink fences and pad-locks used to lock up men, women, and children."
The congressional mem- bers' tweets and comments to reporters came hours after Pro Publica reported that 9,500 Customs and Border Patrol agents had partici- pated in a Facebook group re- plete with jokes about migrant deaths and sexist comments about lawmakers, including Ocasio-Cortez. NBC News has not independ- ently verified this Facebook group and has not seen the posts.
Navy Lieutenant Joins The 1% Of Black Women Neurosurgeons In The U. S. After Making History At Her College
Dr. Venita Simpson
became the first Black woman in Baylor College of Medi- cine's history to finish a neu- rosurgery residency.
The wildly accomplished Navy Lieutenant Commander has joined the 1% of Black women neurosurgeons in the U. S., according to Because of Them We Can.
She's served in the Navy for 13 years and is slated to re- turn in the near future. She'll now be working for the Navy in Portsmouth, Virginia.
“When I knew I wanted to go to medical school, my high school guidance counselor told me to be realistic. Even though I had a 4.0 GPA, she recommended another stu- dent of privilege for the schol- arship I was applying," she told Because of Them We Can.
“When I originally applied to Neurosurgery I did not match, but I dug my heels in, got back on the grind and matched the second time
DR. VENITA SIMPSON
around. Never let anyone tell you what you can’t do. God is always in control and has a plan far greater than you imagined if you keep faith."
Baylor College of Medicine has been around since 1956 and is known for its connec- tions to prestigious cancer hospitals and massive amounts of funding for re- search.
Before getting to Baylor, Simpson earned a doctorate from Georgetown University. She finds much of her inspi- ration from Dr. Alexa Canady, the first woman and Black woman neurosurgeon in the U. S.
“I was inspired to go into medicine since I was seven- years-old after I had surgery. I was just amazed at all the gadgets in the hospital. I fell in love with Neurosurgery after witnessing Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease and movement disor- ders and how life changing a seamless placement of elec- trodes in the brain could alter and enhance someone’s life,” Simpson told Because of Them We Can.
"Dr. Alexa Canady res- onated with me more so be- cause not only was she Black, she was a woman. In a field dominated by white men it can be intimidating, but she persevered and I definitely have pulled strength from her.”
Simpson was featured in a fun Washington Post article last fall where she joked that she "left a patient open on the table" while trying to vote for the first time in Texas.
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JULY 5 2019