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Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio joined a group of other mayors during a trip to Tornillo, Texas, where they tried unsuccessfully to enter a detention center. for immigrant children separated from their parents under President Donald Trump's crackdown. In doing so, Mr. de Blasio hoped to draw attention to the plight of the children, and what he said Wednesday was a "broken and horrible policy".
The mayor finally managed to draw attention to his trip – but not for the intended reasons.
Customs and Border Protection recently sent a letter to New York Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill, accusing Mr. de Blasio of details and other people who were traveling with him for illegally crossing the border and ignored the instructions of an officer of the Border Patrol
. Blasio is taunted by the charge, first reported by the Associated Press, and described it as "absolutely ridiculous". But he refused to answer questions about the incident in the morning arriving at City Hall and later in Brooklyn. After the mayors were fired from the detention center last month, de Blasio decided to go to Mexico to get a view of the detention center on the other side of the border.
million. de Blasio was accompanied by his security details; Mayor of Austin, Texas, Steve Adler; an Austin City Councilor; and some other people. The group first legally crossed from the United States to Mexico to an international bridge in Tornillo.
The accounts differ on what happened next. A chief patrol officer of the El Paso area, Aaron Hull, wrote in his letter dated June 25 that after crossing the Mexican border, Mr. de Blasio and his group crossed the border illegally. on foot, according to a person who
The person stated that the letter described a scene where a uniformed customs officer had observed a group of 10 to 12 people walking in a restricted area in the United States, near the detention center in the United States. Tornillo
. approached the group, a person came forward and identified himself as an inspector of the New York Police Department, according to the person who reviewed the letter.
The letter says that the agent told the group to stay where they were until a supervisor – but the group ignored him and left, returning to the Mexican side. Later, they returned to the United States through official checkpoints.
The letter appeared to be an attempt to commemorate that these events occurred and that these acts are offenses punishable by civil or criminal penalties. But the letter does not indicate that federal officials intended to take further action.
In addressing the mishap Wednesday, during a visit to a social housing complex in Brooklyn, the mayor denied disobeying an order from a border officer. deny or even refute the central accusation of federal officials – that he had crossed the border illegally.
million. de Blasio said that after being fired from the detention center, his border guards spoke with the border patrol about their trip to Mexico
"Border officers consulted their supervisor and they agreed. border in Mexico at a normal checkpoint, "said de Blasio. "While we were there, we were told where the border was and we respected it."
He added: "We have not at any time ignored the instructions of the federal authorities, period."
De Blasio suggested that the Trump administration had leaked the letter to divert attention from the issue of family separation and interpret it as an effort to intimidate it [19659004] "Threats from the Trump administration will not prevent me from speaking".
Mayor Adler and Austin City Councilor Greg Casar echoed Blasio's message and denied that they were detained at any given time. "If it's an attempt to intimidate or silence such calls, it will not work," said Adler in a statement
The Department of police refused to provide a copy of the letter. is in the Rio Grande, but an official of the International Commission on Frontiers and Water in El Paso said that very little water is found in this section of the river at this time of the year. year
separated from their parents at the border were brought to New York to be temporarily placed there in foster homes.
Border patrol officers did not respond to requests for comment.
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