WASHINGTON— Today, Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Nogales, Arizona. In response, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva issued the following statement:

“Although my office was not involved in the events concerning the arrival of the Vice President to Nogales, I welcome him to observe first-hand the physical, emotional and humanitarian toll his and Trump’s policies have wrought upon border communities and asylum seekers. As he poses with Border Patrol agents in front of the Nogales Border Wall covered in grotesque concertina wire, I hope he thinks of the other parts of the border that he has no interest in seeing.

“I hope he speaks with asylum seekers who have waited at the ports of entry for weeks to finally have the opportunity to speak to an asylum officer. I hope he meets with Native American communities whose sacred lands are divided by a wall, and converses with environmental advocates and ranchers raising serious concerns about the negative environmental impacts of his boss’ proposed border wall. I hope he speaks with business owners whose lives depend on a robust trade relationship with Mexico, yet who pay the price of threats to shut down the border and increasingly long lines at chronically-understaffed ports of entry.

“Hopefully he will walk away with a clearer picture of the beauty of border communities instead of the rampant despair promulgated by his boss. However, based on the record of the administration he represents, I doubt he will take any of these suggestions to heart and instead parrot the same talking points of hardline xenophobic rhetoric.”

###

Stay in touch with Rep. Grijalva:

Newsletter – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Website