Basic human dignity

Dear Friend,

This week, I led a hearing with my Democratic Senate colleagues to hear testimony from legal and medical experts who are on the frontlines of confronting the humanitarian crisis on the border.

VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich leads a Democratic Policy and Communications Committee hearing, "America Speaks Out: Stop Trump's Cruel Treatment of Children at the Border," July 23, 2019.

It's clear that the Trump administration has shown an appalling disregard for basic human dignity. Children as young as infants and toddlers have been taken from their families. Migrant families and children are being held in overcrowded, prison-like facilities. The Trump administration is also throttling the legal ports of entry where refugees are required under law to present themselves for asylum, pushing huge groups to remote and more dangerous stretches of the border. We have tragically seen this result in the deaths of several children in New Mexico near some of our remote ports of entry that lack even the most basic medical infrastructure.

I am sincerely appreciative that so many New Mexicans, rather than responding to the President's rhetoric and chaos on the border with fear, are instead responding to this humanitarian crisis with both kindness and compassion. I was proud to welcome one of those New Mexicans as a witness in the hearing. Imelda Maynard, a senior attorney for Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico, has been providing legal services to migrant families and children in southern New Mexico, West Texas, and in our neighboring city in Mexico, Ciudad Juarez.

VIDEO: Imelda Maynard, a senior attorney at Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico, discusses how the humanitarian crisis on the southern border has impacted communities in New Mexico, July 23, 2019.

I want you to know that I will continue fighting to hold this administration accountable for flouting our nation's laws and American values. This is not who we are as a country, and this is not how we should treat our fellow human beings.

Sincerely,

MARTIN HEINRICH

United States Senator