Torres visits San Diego-Mexico border to see effects of Trump's zero tolerance policy
Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-35th District) toured the San Diego-Mexico border on June 18 to witness the effects of President Donald Trump's zero tolerance policy that has separated thousands of children from their parents.
In a statement, Torres, who was born in Guatemala, said her heart was broken when she witnessed toddlers "huddled together" under aluminum blankets in a "freezing jail cell" as they waited to be processed.
"As a mother and grandmother, my heart breaks at witnessing the inhumane detention of children at the San Diego-Mexico border. The scenes reminded me of my many tours to view the facilities at the Chino prison," said Torres, whose district includes Fontana.
According to reports, Trump's policy has separated more than 2,300 children from their parents as they tried to cross the border illegally, which is a misdemeanor. On June 20, Trump signed an executive order to stop separating families, hours after he doubled down on the argument that he was following the law.
Torres said that this executive order does not guarantee that families won't be separated in the future and that it does not solve the problem Trump created.
"I'm disappointed that he chose to continue to keep babies and families in these ice cold jail cells. I'll keep pushing this administration to put a permanent end to this horrendous practice and keep families together," said Torres.
Trump has been accused of using children as bargaining chips to acquire his proposed border wall on the border with Mexico. Months ago, Trump used DACA recipients for the same goal, but a series of court rules and actions by Congress prevented him from obtaining the $25 billion he needs to build the wall.
Before issuing the executive order, Trump had blamed Democrats for the family separation and said only Congress could fix the problem; however, he was the one who implemented the zero tolerance policy, creating the issue.
For Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, Trump "lied" to the public for days, claiming he did not have the power to not separate families.
"Now, President Trump's executive order is a slap in the face to reason, morality, and human decency. In a crisis that he and the Republican Party created, today's directive worsens a horrific situation for immigrant families everywhere," said Salas.
Salas' message to Trump: "Children and families belong in communities, not in family concentration camps. Americans know all too well what a family detention camp looks like. We should not allow this president and the Republican Party to take us back to dark times when ill-advised actions by a few marred our nation's soul."
Source: Alejandro Cano