Dem Rep.-elect Escobar: El Paso Is the ‘New Ellis Island’

Rep.-elect Veronica Escobar (D-TX) on Monday’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC discussed immigration, declaring El Paso, TX, as “the new Ellis Island.”

“El Paso, Texas, is very unique and very special,” Escobar shared. “We are right on the U.S./Mexico border, so my community has been on the front lines of family separations, we’ve been witnesses to the family separations, we’ve been witnesses to customs border protection agents preventing asylum seekers from stepping foot on American soil and we have been on the front lines of wrapping our arms around refugees who need support and help, a place to stay, a meal to eat. So, we are a very, very compassionate community, a community made up of immigrants, a community that understands we are the new Ellis Island.”

She added, “My community has been very frustrated by the fact that we keep talking about border security and securing the border, but it is a moving goal post. We never seem to achieve it in the eyes of the government, despite billions of dollars spent in our community, despite the fact that border patrol is about seven times larger today than it was a decade ago, despite the fact that ICE is about three times its size than it was a decade ago and despite the fact that immigration is still at historic lows. So, we were able to talk about immigration in El Paso in a very different way, in that we are ready for just and humane comprehensive immigration reform.”

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