Vermont Business Magazine As the child detention crisis created by the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy intensifies, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) will travel Sunday to the U.S.- Mexico border near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas. Welch and six Congressional colleagues will investigate the effects of the policy of separating children from mothers and fathers seeking asylum at the border crossing.
"The inhumane practice of separating migrant children from their parents and detaining them in makeshift prisons is a national disgrace," said Welch. "It is not the American way and it cannot stand. Congress must step in and end it before more children are harmed."
Welch is expected to tour a children’s detention facility in Brownsville as well as several other locations along the border related to the family separation policy, including one of the bridges where border officials are reportedly slow-walking applications for asylum seekers.
Tentative stops include:
- Ursula Border Patrol Processing Center – McAllen, TX
- McAllen Border Patrol Station – McAllen, TX
- Hidalgo Port of Entry/International Bridge – Hidalgo, TX
- HHS/ORR Brownsville Children’s Shelter – Brownsville, TX
Travelling with Welch are Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Reps. Filemon Vela (D-TX), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX).