Mayor of Central Falls visits Mexican border

By: Chloe Leshner

cleshner@abc6.com

@ChloeLeshner

TORNILLO PORT, T.X. (WLNE) — A group of mayors from across the country, both democrats and republicans, met at the border today to demand President Trump do more about the immigration issues.

The mayor of Central Falls is one of those those calling on the president to reunite the families separated at the border. Mayor Diossa traveled to the  Mexican border with a contingency of mayors who strongly opposed the zero tolerance policy. They say the executive order that the president signed leaves more questions than answers.

A group of mayors from both political parties and cities all over the country.standing firm at the border demanding more from the president.

"Children are not poker chips, they are people and we demand that Washington fix the mess that it has created," says Mayor Eric Garcetti, a democrat from Los Angeles. 

In that crowd, the mayor of Central Falls, James Diossa.

"Thank you to all of the mayors here for having the courage to come down to Tornillo to stand up against this injustice," says Mayor Diossa.

He says seeing children separated from their families and kept in the facilities at the border hits close to home.

"This has been an emotional one for me, not only to know that there are kids in tents behind us, but also 40 years ago my dad crossed this border and I can’t imagine what he had to go through," says Diossa.

They’re asking President Trump to immediately reunite the families that have been separated and work for a more humane immigration policy. It’s something they say has to happen on a bipartisan level, claiming this has become a moral crisis.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza was mentioned at the press conference for his role on the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Immigration Task Force.

"My co-chair is Jorge Elorza, Mayor of Providence, a democrat from the east coast. I’m republican from California. The symbolism is on purpose. Mayors across the country, we deal with the broken immigration system day in and day out," says Mayor Tom Tait of Anaheim.

Mayor Diossa is on his way back from Texas tonight.

A member of Mayor Elorza’s staff is also at the border, hoping to visit the detention centers where children are being kept.

(C) WLNE/ABC 6 2018