RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas – He’s putting people at his party.
The Democratic mayor of a southern border town says he is outraged at how the Biden government is dealing with the immigration crisis in his backyard – and is “begging” Washington to do more to stem the influx of migrants arriving in your little town.
“You have a breach of national security levels that has never been seen before in modern history and you haven’t even blinked about it, you’re not even calling it a ‘crisis’, you’re calling it a quoted quote challenge,” said Mayor Bruno Lozano, a Democrat who represents Del Rio, Texas, to The Post on Sunday.
“It’s a slap in the face.”
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Lozano, 38, represents the small town of just over 35,000 residents and has been trying to get President Biden’s attention since February.
Just before a historic winter storm that left millions of people without power and killed 57 hit the state, he sent the president a video asking him not to send migrants to the community because he did not have the necessary resources.
“Mr. President, my name is Bruno Lozano, mayor of the city of Del Rio, Texas, and I am begging and asking you to end any measures regarding the release of immigrants awaiting trial in the city of Del Rio and surrounding areas,” says Lozano while images of empty shelves and rows of supermarkets are played in the background.
“We have no resources available to shelter and accommodate these migrants in our community … If you send these individuals to our community, we will be forced to make a decision to leave them without resources under these dire circumstances. I am asking you to stop, please , make another plan for this federal issue. ”
Despite best efforts, Lozano said the request “fell on deaf ears” and, more than a month later, the only thing that has changed is the number of migrants arriving in his small community, which currently stands at around 150 a day .
“I am not trying to demonize the humanitarian aspect in any way, but my responsibility is to the city of Del Rio and the residents of Del Rio, Texas, my responsibilities are to the American people who elected me,” explained Lozano.
“Nobody really wants to solve the problem, you are tolerating illegal behavior, period. There is a legal way to enter the United States, there is a legal way to apply for asylum and it just undermines the entire immigration process.”
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The bewildered leader, the youngest mayor to be elected in the city, is furious at having to use local budget dollars for an issue he calls a federal problem that has been dumped in the laps of small communities along the border.
“It is not even in our budget. Each item is counted in the municipal government, we are very well adjusted in the budget. It is not appropriate”, said Lozano.
“It just surprises me how disconnected from reality [they are] or maybe they know, maybe they just don’t want to call a spade a spade, you know, because it’s uncomfortable. ”
During the latest outbreak in 2019, Lozano said migrants were being evicted by the U.S. border patrol at a 7-11 convenience store and, although a rest center has been opened in the city, the city is still responsible for migrants, once they are left off.
Lozano said that every day, migrants are taken to the Humanitarian Coalition of Fronteira Val Verde, where they have access to services, before boarding flights and buses out of the city. But sometimes they can’t get tickets and the city needs to find a place for them to sleep.
“That’s when the logistical nightmare begins, where do they go to sleep at night? That’s the number I worry about every day,” said Lozano, adding that he uses a basketball court as an improvised shelter.
“Sometimes migrants are released after hours and there is simply nowhere to put them. I cannot use the civic center because I am using it for COVID vaccines.”
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Earlier this month, two different groups of migrants breached the pedestrian bridge from the city’s port of entry from Mexico.
Lozano says the influx is a side effect of Biden’s relaxed immigration policies.
“It’s very selective about who they deport now and let’s be realistic, the Biden government sent that message that you know ‘let’s reverse this, let’s do this’ and for sure within a few days, within days, it started happening again.”
“It was completely predictable,” added Lozano – but when he tries to explain what is happening in the field to the senators, he said “they are shocked”.
“You have this policy where illegal entry is being tolerated, criminal activity is being tolerated, these migrants are using cartels to cross Mexico and that is a fact and organized crime activity is increasing because of that,” he said. Lozano.
“I am getting their attention, I am so frustrated as mayor of a border town with all this.”
To read more from the New York Post, click here.