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/ Source: Associated Press
of The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas – Representative Beto O'Rourke and Four Other Democrats Members of Congress visited Saturday an isolated town in western Texas, where they stated that 2,700 immigrant teenagers are being held for a cost of about one million dollars a day.
Legislators have urged the non-profit organization that manages the facility not to renew a federal contract. which expires on December 31, a large-scale application that could actually close the camp. It was supposed to be temporary, but instead welcomed more children and adopted a permanent atmosphere with football fields, a restaurant and tents with separate dormitories for boys and girls.
O. Rourke – a Texan who was mentioned as a presidential candidate in 2020 after having almost upset Republican Senator Ted Cruz in his state of a deep red – was joined by American detective Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Judy Chu.
O 'Rourke said that he and his colleagues were not allowed to speak meaningfully to children.
"They sort of nodded, but what are they going to say when everyone around them is watching?" O'Rourke said after visiting the facility. "But we saw something in their faces, namely that they were not really participating in the sports that they practiced on those grounds."
"We have to close it," added Chu. "It's inhuman – it's a children's prison – it's not allowed to exist."
O 'Rourke made no mention of his possible aspirations to the White House after making his fourth visit to the camp just outside Tornillo. He pointed out that the region was about an hour's drive from his hometown, El Paso, which borders Mexico at the extreme western tip of Texas.
"It's voluntarily in a remote place so that the American people do not know what's going on here." "Rourke told reporters."
Lawmakers reported that 2,700 boys and girls aged 13 to 17 were detained in Tornillo, describing visits to tents housing teens, but could only ask light questions O. Rourke asked some of their home countries – Guatemala and Honduras – and was assured that the conditions were "acceptable."
Tornillo opened its doors as temporary center in June, in the middle of which President Donald Trump's administration described an emergency situation on the US-Mexican border.Since then, the contract has been renewed and the number children held indoors increased, while determining the speed and magnitude of the difficulty.
Legislators said that the subcontractor, BCFS Health and Human Services told them that the tent city had cost 144 mill dollars to taxpayers since it opened, about $ 1 million a day.
Democrats urged BCFS Health and Human Services to refuse to renew its contract with the US government. But even if that happened, lawmakers said that they did not really know where the children detained in Tornillo would be transferred.
The Associated Press had previously reported that the Trump administration had waved FBI fingerprint checks for health care providers and staff shortages. mental health workers in Tornillo.
O 'Rourke said Saturday that the contractor had told him that a recent agreement with Texas now allows the state's background checks, but that the institution does not have a license. still lacks the ability to perform FBI fingerprint verification. 19659008] Legislators have stated that many teens already have a family in the United States who would like to take it. However, federal authorities began fingerprinting and verifying the track record of potential "sponsors", resulting in 170 fears about possible immigration offenses.
They also stated that despite increased control, the contractor had stated that 1,300 children had a parent ready to take. They remained in Tornillo because of unexplained federal delays.
O 'Rourke said that public pressure may force the federal authorities to close Tornillo, but that in the meantime, federal policies indicate that the country is turning its back on these people.
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