Austin Mayor To Visit Migrant Detention Site

AUSTIN, TX — Austin Mayor Steve Adler on Thursday will travel to Tornillo — a town near El Paso, Texas, where migrant children are being held on orders of the Trump administration — with counterparts in calling attention to the immigration policy.

The trip by a delegation of mayors is being organized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Adler will be joined by other mayors from around the country seeking to bring additional attention and focus to the so-called "zero-tolerance" immigration crackdown implemented by the Trump administration that has as key component the separation of migrant parents from their children as a deterrent for future immigration.

This month, the U.S. government opened a detention camp euphemistically called a "tent city" for migrant children at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry on the Mexican border in Tornillo.

"President Trump’s recently implemented “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, which includes separating children from their parents as they try to cross the border to seek asylum, stands in stark contrast to the ideals of our nation," the mayor's office said in an email. "It is immoral, un-American, it is hurting families without justification, and it needs to change."

Through his office comminique, the mayor said the policy represented a watershed moment in our nation's history: "This a defining moment for our country," the email read.

Other mayors attending include Columbia (S.C.) Mayor Steve Benjamin; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; Miami Mayor Francis Suarez; Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan; and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller. The Austin City Council Members have also been invited to attend, given their leadership on immigration issues, according to the mayor's office.

At the recent Annual Meeting of U.S. Conference of Mayors in Boston, the Mayors voted to adopt the policy resolution, "Reverse the Department of Homeland Security's Family Separation Policies". The resolve clauses state that, "The U.S. Conference of Mayors registers its strong opposition to separating children from their families at the border and calls on the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to immediately reverse these destructive policies and allow families apprehended to remain together to the extent possible, to help avoid the heartbreak and irreversible trauma of forced separation"

The schedule of events on Thursday, June 21 will include:

• 8 a.m. bus Departs El Paso for Tornillo
• 8:45 a.m. arrival at Tornillo facility
• 9 a.m. press conference (more details to come)
• 10:30 am. bus departs for airport

>>> Photo of Mayor Steve Adler via City of Austin