By Bonnie Watson Coleman

Last weekend, I visited the U.S.-Mexico border with several of my Democratic colleagues. What I saw there shocked and appalled me. It was a level of cruelty and inhumanity that I thought this country had left behind.

We’ve spent the past months hyper-focused on immigration in all of the wrong ways. The President’s child separation policy and threats to close the border along with an announcement that he plans to end economic assistance to Central American countries have topped every recent headline. He’s worked hard to fan the flames of xenophobia among Americans by demonizing immigrants as violent criminals and a threat to their slice of the economic pie. Mr. Trump’s divide-and-conquer techniques are not new, and they’ve distracted us from the growing disaster not just at our border, but on our soil.

You have probably seen photos of people living clustered under a bridge at a holding facility in El Paso, photos that invoke scenes of internment camps or prisons. We visited a similar facility in El Paso, Texas, and while exposure to the elements outside the tents was bad, conditions inside these tents were not much better. They were hot and they were smelly. Over 700 people shared four showers; three others had been shut down after a storm. Fans were left off because, as security agents explained, “they’re from a warm climate. They like it warm.” Officers would tell us one thing, those in the holding centers would tell us something else.

At the US Border Patrol Processing Station at Paso Del Norte Bridge, with @HomelandDems learning about what’s really happening, and what’s needed to avert further humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/kTabbybYZa — Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) April 5, 2019

My colleague, Congresswoman Nanette Barragán was able to translate conversations with some of the asylum seekers. Most were fleeing terrible economic hardship and violence in Central America. El Salvador and Honduras lead the world in their rates of homicide and Central America is among the most dangerous places on the planet. One woman who had traveled with her daughter told us that she thought she was coming to someplace better — that America would be someplace better. I can’t describe the expression on everyone’s faces — the fear, uncertainty, and misery. All the while the sound of crying babies filled the tent. I asked myself later why I didn’t cry after all that I witnessed, and the only answer I could come up with was that I was too angry.

In the process of planning our trip, my colleagues and I learned of nine hunger strikers who were protesting their living conditions at these facilities. Two of these men were cousins, originally from India. After one month refusing food, officers at an ICE facility in El Paso forced feeding tubes through their noses and down their throats – a practice that may violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture. When we heard about their stories we made arrangements with ICE to meet with one of them. Yet when the time came on Saturday morning we were informed that he had been suddenly transferred to another facility about 30 miles away and was slated to be moved to a facility in Washington State. After our delegation and our host Congresswoman Veronica Escobar informed ICE officials that we would be traveling to Washington to meet them, we were informed that they had been granted bond.

After my visit, I can tell you that there truly is a crisis at the border. It’s a humanitarian crisis, born from economic hardship and horrendous violence in Central America, made worse as these people are forced to endure the policies of the Trump Administration. It’s a crisis that leaves us with a question that will test our values, our morals, and our founding principles: Will a country whose legacy is a tapestry of immigration suddenly turn its back on those seeking the same safety and opportunity or will we allow these wrongs to continue on American soil?

What I saw, heard, smelled, and felt at the border requires action that is comprehensive, compassionate, and coordinated. It cannot be solved with a wall, a tariff or a border closure, and we can no longer afford to be distracted by talking points that misdirect us. We must choose, right now, whether we will rise to our challenges and continue our tradition of leadership, or cower and break with our history and our values. We have to decide to fix this.

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman represents the 12th Congressional District.

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