Governor Abbott, Thank you for your service to our great state. Today I am writing to you with a great sense of urgency regarding the humanitarian and moral crisis occurring on our state border with Mexico. As you are aware, the Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy has caused the separation of thousands of innocent children from their parents. This “zero tolerance” policy is a Catch 22. This Administration has denied thousands of would be legal asylum seekers admittance at our ports of entry, forcing these downtrodden families to cross in between these legal points of entry. They were trying to follow the law and our process for asylum. From their desperation, these families did what any parent would do for their kid to keep them safe and give them a chance at a better life. But this Administration baited these families and is now making criminals of parents who were denied legal avenues into our country. The President’s own Chief of Staff, General Kelly defended and described this policy as a “technique” by this administration to serve as a “tough deterrent.” \
Community leaders and faith leaders of various denominations have condemned this policy and practice of separating kids from their families. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently stated, “At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life.” In a written statement Cardinal DiNardo went on to state, “while protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”
As you know, immigration law and policy falls exclusively under the purview of the federal government. As a state, our hands are generally tied. However, certain state border security policies are intertwined with enforcing immigration law. The deployment of state resources and our state guard to our border directly and indirectly result in the detection and apprehension of some of these asylum seeking migrant families. As a result, these families further fall victim to this administration’s “zero tolerance” and family separation policies. Texas should not be a condoning and willing partner in this practice of separating families. I am respectfully requesting that you halt certain border security practices and cancel the deployment of our Texas National Guard at the border until this abhorrent and immoral policy of separating families is ended.
Governor Charlie Baker, the Republican Governor of Massachusetts has recently canceled the deployment of the Massachusetts National Guard troops to the border in light of recent reports about the Trump Administration’s practice of separating immigrant children from families. A spokesman for Governor Baker cited the inhumane treatment of these kids as the reason for cancelling the sending of any assets or personnel to our southwest border. Thank you Governor Abbott for you earnest attention to this matter and request. I look forward to your timely response. Lastly, I would like to invite you to visit El Paso and Tornillo to see firsthand the temporary shelter or “tent city” and the state of the migrant children detained there. If you have any questions, or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at my Capitol Office at 512-463-0622.
Sincerely, César J. Blanco State Representative District 76 – El Paso
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