Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) escorted a pregnant Mexican woman across the border into the United States to get emergency medical care over the weekend.
Wyden shared pictures of his visit to a shelter where asylum seekers are staying in Juarez as they wait to hear back about their asylum claims under new rules instituted by the administration of President Donald Trump.
“While across the border, I met a young woman who was seeking refuge in the U.S., who was more than 8 months pregnant,” Wyden wrote in a post on Twitter.
He said she couldn’t get across the border until he personally intervened.
I went across the border into Juarez, Mexico to tour a shelter housing asylum seekers being forced to stay in Mexico instead of the U.S. while they wait to hear if they’ve been granted asylum. They are fleeing persecution and violence, seeking a better life for their families. pic.twitter.com/730QQSFhiz
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 27, 2019
It shouldn’t have to take being escorted by a U.S. Senator to get asylum seekers and migrants to safety in the United States. After my time in Juarez, I’m reflecting on the hundreds — perhaps thousands — of women just like her who are unable to get the medical care they need. pic.twitter.com/X0mk1iJr6q
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 27, 2019
“There were concerns she had serious medical complications that were life-threatening to her & her unborn baby. She tried to get across the border but was denied until it became clear to law enforcement that I was accompanying her. She was taken to a hospital to get care,” he said.
“It shouldn’t have to take being escorted by a U.S. Senator to get asylum seekers and migrants to safety in the United States. After my time in Juarez, I’m reflecting on the hundreds—perhaps thousands—of women just like her who are unable to get the medical care they need.”
Border Patrol is treatment families seeking asylum like “dangerous criminals,” Wyden alleged.
Bob Moore, president of the El Paso Matters outlet, said on Twitter that a Customs and Border Protection officer told the pregnant woman that “we’re full” until Wyden intervened.
The family met @RonWyden when he toured a Juarez migrant shelter Saturday. Dr. Lauren Herbert, an Oregon pediatrician traveling with Wyden, became alarmed that the woman’s condition might threaten her life and that of her baby. 3/ pic.twitter.com/y8Qy8yGLn3
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) July 28, 2019
El Paso immigration lawyer @TaylorKLevy suggested that Wyden escort the family to the Paso del Norte Bridge to press their asylum claim and seek medical help. “That’s what we’re going to do,” he said. 4/ pic.twitter.com/dZg4ABpux5
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) July 28, 2019
He said that Dr. Lauren Herbert, a pediatrician from Oregon who was traveling with Wyden, thought that the pregnant woman had a medical condition that might threaten her life, in addition to the life of her baby. Taylor Levy, an immigration lawyer, then suggested that Wyden escort the woman and her family to the border to urge officers to accept them into the United States.
“After @RonWyden intervened, the family was allowed to go to the port of entry and begin the asylum process. @CBP officials promised him the mother would be taken to a hospital,” Moore wrote.
Wyden’s actions came after Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) escorted five female asylum seekers into the United States earlier this month.
Staff members for Rep.Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), meanwhile, has reportedly been sending aides to Juarez to coach asylum seekers on a loophole in the immigration system.