Not So Fast

Dem Senator Blocked From Entering Immigration Detention Center

Jeff Merkley wanted answers about refugee children.

Sen. Jeff Merkley was barred from entering an immigration-detention facility Sunday in Texas. The Oregon Democrat attempted to gain access to the complex to confirm that hundreds of refugee children were being held there. In a video shared on his social-media pages, Merkley said: “I’m going to try to enter a facility in Brownsville, Texas, run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. I am told that this former Walmart may currently be housing hundreds of refugee children who have been separated from their parents.” Merkley was barred from entering the facility, tweeting: “I was barred entry. Asked repeatedly to speak to a supervisor—he finally came out and said he can’t tell us anything. Police were called on us. Children should never be ripped from their families & held in secretive detention centers.”