First off, he gets a huge shout out for this:
World Cup soccer and backyard barbecues were set aside Father's Day morning for hundreds of people who chose instead to descend on this small West Texas outpost that's become famous the last 72 hours for being home to an immigration detention center for children.
Lawmakers, political candidates and members of the faith-based community joined people from across the country here to express their outrage toward the Trump administration's practice of separating immigrant children from parents who are seeking asylum.
"We decided there wouldn't be a more powerful way to spend Father's Day than with children who have just been taken from their fathers, children who have been taken from their mothers, children who won't be able to be with their family," said U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, who spearheaded Sunday's protest with former El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar, the Democratic nominee to succeed O'Rourke in Congress. Others attending the demonstration included Lupe Valdez, the Democratic nominee for governor; Democratic state Reps. Mary González of Clint and César Blanco and Lina Ortega of El Paso; and Gina Ortiz-Jones, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes; and Julie Oliver, the Democrat running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Roger Williams.
On Thursday, the Trump administration confirmed that Tornillo would house a detention center for immigrant children separated from their parents under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. On Friday, that facility was up and running. O'Rourke said he was told Sunday morning that there are 200 minors in the center, 20 percent of whom were separated from their parents. He said the remainder of the children arrived to the border unaccompanied. But O'Rourke said that once the children are separated, they are labeled "unaccompanied" and processed that way so it's unclear how many of them actually arrived alone.
And O’Rourke has some harsh and honest words:
"This is inhumane," O'Rourke said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I'd like to say it's un-American, but it's happening right now in America. And it is on all of us, not just the Trump administration. This is on all of us."
The Department of Homeland Security
said Friday that the government had separated about 2,000 children from parents at the border since implementing a policy that results in such family separations.
O'Rourke said he was planning to march to Tornillo, Texas, where the government
is holdingunaccompanied immigrant children, and several other Democratic lawmakers
are due to visitimmigration centers in South Texas.
O'Rourke said the march was an effort to drum up enough "outrage" and "public pressure" to change the policy, which Trump
suggested is a negotiating tool and has falsely asserted is the fault of Democrats.
In his CNN interview, O'Rourke pledged to introduce a measure in the coming days to end family separation and predicted support from the public.
"I'm confident that the American people this time are going to get it right," O'Rourke said.
O'Rourke also noted that the policy meant children would spend Father's Day uncertain when they would next see their parents.
"At the moment that they finally thought they had reached safety, refuge, were going to petition for asylum, they were taken from their parents, and are now in Tornillo with no idea when or if they will see their mothers or their fathers on this Father's Day again," O'Rourke said.
Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is used to dunking on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), but he was no match for the Republican lawmaker during a charity basketball game this weekend in Houston.
Cruz defeated Kimmel 11-9 in the so-called Blobfish Basketball Classic, held Saturday at Texas Southern University’s arena in Houston.
“Did you spend more time this week practicing basketball than trying to get those kids out of that detention center?” Kimmel asks Cruz on the court in a video clip tweeted by ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
The poll comes with mid-term elections less than six months away and a competitive U.S. Senate race in Texas between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz who is opposed to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion. He faces Democrat Beto O’Rourke, a Congressman who supports the ACA and Medicaid expansion.
The poll could also have ramifications for state legislative races and those like Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is running for re-election and has balked at expanding Medicaid under the ACA. Texas is just one of 17 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid under the ACA.
“While partisans differ in their opinion of whether the state should expand Medicaid, majorities of Texans across political parties say they have a favorable view of Medicaid and that the program is working well for most low-income people covered by it,” the foundations said in a report accompanying their poll.
Weighing in Republicans’ favor, however, may be the lack of education on the issues and knowledge of just how poorly Texas rates when it comes to covering its residents with health insurance. Most Texans don’t realize the uninsured rate in Texas is higher than other states, the poll data shows.
At 21%, Texas’ uninsured rate for those 19 to 64 years of age is the worst among U.S. states , “substantially higher than the national average of 12%,” Kaiser and Episcopal foundations said.
“Despite this lack of understanding about the uninsured rate, a majority of Texans believes the state should be doing more to provide access to health care for low-income adults,” the foundations wrote in their report. “Sixty-four percent of Texas residents say the state government is not doing enough to make sure low-income adults in Texas can get the health care they need.”
Until then, here are a few things you can do to fight back:
1. Contact your Senator and tell them to support the Keep Families Together Act.
2. Donate to these groups fighting back against Trump’s ICE.
3. Donate and get involved with Beto’s campaign and other Texas Democrats running this year:
Beto O’Rourke for Senate
Veronica Escobar for Congress
Lupe Valdez for Governor
Gina Ortiz-Jones for Congress
Julie Oliver for Congress