Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley returned to South Texas border on Sunday, together with colleagues from the Democratic Party, to tour Rio Grande Valley processing centers belonging to US Customs and Border Protection. The lawmakers say they went to South Texas to gain more understanding of the way the agency processes undocumented immigrants coming into the US, including a policy that refers all illegal border crossers for criminal prosecution in addition to immigration proceedings.
The enforcement of that policy has resulted in families illegally crossing the US border being separated from their children as the adults become enmeshed in the criminal justice system. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, Vermont Representative Peter Welch, Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan, Rhode Island Representative David Cicilline, and Texas Representatives Vicente Gonzalez, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Filemon Vela were in the group.
Some Democrats expressed anger following the visit to a McAllen, Texas processing center about the family separations and called for a policy change by the Trump administration. Merkley says he has spoken with Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the issue and would like to meet with President Donald Trump.
The visit came two days after confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security that almost 2,000 children have been separated from their parents by the US government at the border since the implementation of the policy. Merkley originally visited the South Texas border on 3 June, only to be denied entry to a Brownsville immigration center for unaccompanied immigrant minors.