The Democratic mayor of the Del Rio, Texas, Bruno Lozano, pleaded with President Joe Biden on Wednesday to halt the release of migrants into the area as the state faces extreme weather conditions and power shutoffs.
A YouTube account for the Del Rio government hosted a desperate video from Lozano “pleading” with Biden to stop “any measures regarding the release of immigrants awaiting court dates into the City of Del Rio and surrounding areas.”
“After the extreme weather and emergency conditions in the area, the city does not have the resources available to house and accommodate these migrants within the community,” a caption for the video reads.
As noted by The Wall Street Journal, migrants are not tested by Customs and Border Protection before they are released across the border, though it is protocol that they’ll be taken to a local hospital if the migrant is showing symptoms of COVID-19 or another illness. “Aid groups such as the one in Del Rio advise people to quarantine if they believe they may have [COVID]-19, but lack the resources to pay for hotels or other accommodations,” the Journal added.
“I am pleading and requesting with you to please put a halt to any measures regarding the release of immigrants awaiting court dates into the city of Del Rio and surrounding areas,” Lozano asked Biden. “We do not have the resources available to house and accommodate these migrants within our community.”
“I will have no choice but to use the extreme measure under the emergency declaration as the mayor of the city of Del Rio, Texas, to refuse the entry of migrants awaiting court dates into the city of Del Rio,” he told the president. “If you do send these individuals into our community, we will be forced to make a decision to leave them without resources under these dire circumstances.”
“I am asking to please stop,” the Democrat pleaded. “Please make another plan for this federal issue. If you’re going to allow these individuals into our community, I respectfully ask that you provide the means and the supplies necessary to accommodate them safely under these extreme circumstances. Due to the crisis, we cannot provide these supplies.”
“We have been outsourcing dialysis treatments for our in-need persons in our community; we have had to relocate the elderly who are in need of power for oxygen tanks,” he explained. “We are completely and utterly spread thin with resources for our own community.”
Lozano insisted he was in “constant communication with other border mayors” in Texas who are feeling the same strain and share the same concerns about the migrant population.
“Our nonprofits, our churches are running thin with resources to provide to our very own citizens,” the mayor said. “Additionally, we have been burdened with the inadequate communication systems throughout the entire area, which has impacted our ability to respond and coordinate limited resources and distribution.”
“Releasing the migrant population without any COVID-19 protection protocols is undermining your commitment to the stance against COVID-19,” Lozano argued.
“We may be a small town that is off of your radar, but we have a community of 50,000 people who need your attention,” he said. “We are requesting that you please listen and that you please come through.”
Watch:
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