On Friday, I joined several of my colleagues in Austin for a House committee hearing focused on the humanitarian crisis at our southern border. For six hours, we heard from state agency heads, officials from border counties and representatives from immigrant-rights organizations. We discussed the treatment of detained children, the separation of families and the bleak conditions at many of these facilities, including the lack of access to the most basic needs.
It was apparent that a lack of resources and coordination among federal agencies and other levels of government is in part to blame for these conditions — an issue that I hope was brought more into the light as a result of this hearing. I continue to question, as I did in the hearing, whether Governor Abbott’s recent deployment of 1,000 National Guard to help run detention facilities is the best use of resources. We heard from city and county officials who are literally on the front lines of this crisis who would benefit tremendously from direct support from the National Guard in particular and the state and federal governments, in general.
Of course, we wouldn’t be having these discussions if the Trump Administration had not handled this entire situation so incompetently from the beginning. The president’s apparent indifference to this humanitarian crisis is what has rightfully angered so many Americans.
Saturday, I traveled to Carrizo Springs, located between San Antonio and Laredo, to visit a recently opened migrant shelter currently housing 206 teenagers, with the capacity to house over 1000 more. This facility, run by the US Health and Human Services in partnership with Baptist Children’s and Family Services, is an improvement over the overcrowded and harsh conditions at Border Patrol facilities on our border.
The shelter staff is working to reunite children with their families, with a goal of no one being there more than 30 days. I appreciate the work being done there, and how the facility differs from the horrific conditions at detention centers on the border.
The migrant shelter and the detention centers do share something in common — they are both a symptom of our nation’s overall failure to deal with immigration policy in a comprehensive, effective manner. Until we do, we will continue to pay a human and financial cost.
If you would like to help detainees and others impacted by this humanitarian crisis, click here for a list of opportunities to provide support.
