19 mayors, Mayor Margo unite against zero-tolerance policy

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo was joined by more than a dozen mayors from across the United States for a news conference at the Tornillo Port of Entry Thursday to denounce the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance policy.

“This is neither a Democratic or Republican process. This is something that needs to be handled out of Washington D.C. Immigration is all encompassing,” Margo said during a news conference. “It’s not just the fact that they’re separating children in an inhumane manner. It’s the fact that we need to reconcile and resolve our immigration with DACA and the undocumented immigrants who are here today and we need to improve the visa process.”

On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order to reverse the practice of separating undocumented immigrant families along the U.S.-Mexico border, adding that he did not like the sound of children crying.

The president’s executive action followed national outrage at the separation of families at the border. The Department of Homeland Security announced this month nearly 2,000 children were separated from families during the month of May. The facility at the Tornillo port of entry currently houses teenage boys.

Thursday, Homeland Security Chief Kirstjen Nielsen said nearly 10,000 unaccompanied children and teenagers are currently housed in facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. “Those kids were sent here without a parent, without a legal guardian in the hands of smugglers, in the hands of traffickers,” said Nielsen. “It’s horrifying. I mean these children, some of them are raped, they’re abused. Many of them have already been recruited into a gang because that was the only way they could survive the travel.”

The mayors who traveled to the Tornillo port of entry Thursday called on congressional lawmakers to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

“The mayors you see before you are a good, strong bipartisan group of mayors. We’re united in our fight for justice. We’re united in our fight for what is right,” said Mayor Steve Benjamin, president of the United States Council of Mayors, “As mayors, we see everyday the positive impact that immigrants have on our communities. They contribute in countless ways to our economic and cultural strength. But as mayors, we also see the impact cruel immigration policies have on our cities. They create fear and uncertainty, which has a very real affect on the safety, health and well-being of all of our residents.”

The bipartisan delegation included mayors from Austin,Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Anaheim, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Augusta, Georgia; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Central Falls, Rhode Island; Columbia, South Carolina; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; Findlay, Ohio; Gary, Indiana; Las Cruces, New Mexico; New York, New York; Nevada City, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Seattle, Washington; West Sacramento, California.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the chair of the USCM Latino Alliance, told reporters the issue of illegal immigration is “personal” for him. Garcetti said his grandfather Salvador crossed into El Paso 100 years ago. He was a one-year-old baby in the arms of my great-grandmother. I can only imagine that if he arrived at this country, fleeing war, fleeing violence, having had his father killed just days before, was ripped from the arms of his mother, I don’t know what would have happened. I certainly don’t think that I would be here today.”

Central Falls, Rhode Island Mayor James Diossa echoed Garcetti’s sentiments. “Forty years ago, my dad crossed this border,” said Diossa. “I can’t imagine what he had gone through.”

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said shoes were left outside the Tornillo detention center to let children know they have support. “We urge anyone watching this, go to your border go to the facility in your home town, do something for these children,” said Durkan.