Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) released the following statement after visiting the Port Isabel ICE detention center that the Trump Administration has said will be the primary center for reunifying parents and children separated at the border. Photo of Pingree in front of the building.

“The Trump Administration has announced that the Port Isabel ICE facility, which I visited in Los Fresno, Texas, will serve as the primary center for reunifying parents and children separated at the border. We need details now about how this reunification will be implemented. Just yesterday I saw the faces of mothers at this facility who were devastated by President Trump’s zero-tolerance policy. They sobbed and told me they hadn't heard from their kids or spoken to a lawyer. One even had her child ripped from her breast while nursing. The trauma this administration has created for these parents and children is absolutely horrific. Days after the President’s executive order, their suffering continues and so many questions remain about their future.”

Media Coverage 

• Portland Press Herald: Pingree describes ‘heartbreaking’ scenes, families in cages at Texas border facilities
• WBUR Boston: While Immigration Policies Are Defined, Many Families Along The Southern Border Can Only Wait
• Maine Public: Pingree At The Border: Babies 'In Centers With No Mother In Sight - We Saw It All'
• WCSH 6: Rep. Pingree visits Texas migrant detention center

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