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Thompson, congressional colleagues visit facility for separated minors
One of Lake County’s members of Congress said Wednesday that he and several of his colleagues went to see for themselves a facility housing minors separated from their families after crossing the US border.
Representatives Mike Thompson (CA-05), Doris Matsui (CA-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) and Brad Sherman (CA-30) visited a private nonprofit facility in Virginia that houses children separated from their parents at the border as a result of the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.
The group condemned the family separation policy and called for children to be reunited immediately.
They issued the following joint statement:
“The children we met today have faced unimaginable horrors coming to the United States, and the trauma of that journey is only perpetuated the longer they are separated from their families. Today’s visit only underscored the extreme urgency with which we must work to reunite families and the lasting trauma the Trump Administration’s inhumane policy has caused on thousands of children. While we appreciate that this experienced facility is providing necessary care, no standard of care can meet the needs of children desperate to see their families again and the Administration must present its policy for a swift reunification infrastructure immediately.”
Thompson also released the video above in which he discusses his visit to the facility.
“We need to figure out how to do this right. We can secure our borders. We can improve our immigration system and we can do it in a humane way, in a moral way,” he said. “The way the kids are being treated isn’t about immigration, it’s about morals. We need to get this right.”
He concluded by calling for comprehensive immigration reform and reuniting the children with their parents “as soon as we can.”
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.