Democrats to join Congressional border visit to examine humanitarian crisis

WASHINGTON D.C. – Democratic Members of Congress will join a bipartisan Congressional delegation to the U.S. – Mexico border this week to learn more about the unprecedented spike in unaccompanied migrant children apprehended along the southwest border. The influx, driven almost entirely by children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and largely thought to be a result of extreme violence in their home countries and false rumors that the U.S. will let them in without consequences, poses a tremendous challenge to every governmental and nongovernmental entity that works with this population.

U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) and Joe Garcia (Fla.), members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, intend to meet with government officials from the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services as well as local experts who work with unaccompanied children and families after they cross the U.S. border. The delegation also hopes to visit a short-term Border Patrol facility that processes and detains unaccompanied children and families, a shelter that houses unaccompanied children after they are transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and a local church that serves families who have previously been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In addition, they hope to meet directly with children and their families who have been apprehended after crossing the border.

The Democrats released the following statement in advance of this week's border visit:

"The journey to the United States is an extremely dangerous one we do not want children and families to take with smugglers and traffickers. Along the way, these children and families are too often raped, killed, maimed, trafficked, and extorted. We need to learn why – in the face of all these dangers – these women, children and families are still making the trip. We also have a responsibility to manage this border spike in a way that is consistent with our laws and values, and to ensure that no person or child be returned to face persecution or torture abroad as a result of our actions. We are faced with a truly enormous challenge, and we hope this visit will provide us and our colleagues with the necessary insights and perspective to rise to the occasion."

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