Eddie Rodriguez
Nearly 200 migrant children have lived in the Tornillo Port of Entry Shelter for far
longer than originally intended due to the Trump administration’s incompetence.
Austin, Texas – Today, State Representative Eddie Rodriguez toured the Tornillo Port of Entry Shelter with colleagues from the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC).
Rep. Rodriguez is Policy Chair for MALC, the oldest and largest Latino legislative caucus in the nation. MALC works on the forefront of issues related to immigration, family detention and border security in the Texas Legislature. Rep. Rodriguez also serves on the House Committee on State Affairs which heard a bill related to state licensure of family detention centers (SB 1018) in the 85th Legislative Session.
State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez issued the following statement after visiting the Tornillo facility:
“The Tornillo Port of Entry Shelter is currently home to nearly 200 young men who have lived for months in what was built to be a temporary shelter. These boys, aged 14 to 17 years old, share 20-person tents that are designed for victims of natural disasters and are not fit for permanent habitation.
“The boys at Tornillo came to this country as unaccompanied minors and in spite of everything they have been through, they were incredibly respectful and a bit shy during our conversation. We learned that they have sponsors they could be released to this week, but they are stuck in government custody until the Trump administration finishes running background checks on their sponsors. There is no timeline for this to happen.
“Pictures of children living in such conditions sparked a national furor against the Trump administration’s family separation policy, but that flame has dwindled with time. We are bombarded with breaking news every day and the family separation crisis does not hold center stage like it did two months ago. But when you and I go home to our families at night, these children stay put in the isolated warehouses we have built to store them.
“These vulnerable children need people like you and me to continue fighting for them, especially as the spotlight on their situation fades. The Trump administration just missed another family reunification deadline and admitted it still does not have a plan to reunite the families that remain separated after all this time. Thousands of unaccompanied minors languish in a system Congress allows to remain broken, while allegations of abuse are swept under the rug or quietly investigated with little likelihood of the government or its contractors being held accountable. The trauma migrant children endure in the American immigration system lasts a lifetime and we are all culpable.
“I am deeply grateful to Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services of El Paso, two non-profit organizations doing incredible work for families and children impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration policies. We discussed actions that legislators can take at the state level to ensure that Texas fulfills all legal, humanitarian and moral obligations that we have to people held in state-licensed facilities, and I look forward to working with them on these important issues in the 86th Legislative Session. I am also deeply concerned by the lack of oversight and accountability at ‘temporary shelters’ erected on federal property, as the Trump administration appears to be using them to skirt measures required for state-licensure. I will raise this concern with allies in Congress to ensure that the federal government answers for abuse and neglect that occurs in these facilities.”