Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., was denied access to an immigrant detention center in Texas on Sunday, according to a video he posted to Facebook.
The Oregon senator recorded his attempt to enter the immigrant detention center, which is reportedly housing children who are being held apart from their families in Brownsville, Texas.
“I think it’s unacceptable that a member of Congress is not being admitted to see what’s happening to children whose families are applying for asylum,” Merkley said in the video. “Can you imagine? You come to this strange land. You’re seeking asylum, and the first thing that happens when you get here is you’re torn away from your parents?
In the video, the congressman is seen being told that that he cannot enter the building. Shortly after being denied access, Merkley is met outside the building by police and a facility supervisor.
“We are usually told ahead of time if anybody is going to come and visit us,” the facility’s supervisor told Merkley in the video.
Merkley said he was visiting to spotlight a new immigration policy announced last month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, stating the U.S. would begin prosecuting anyone trying to enter the country illegally, including those seeking asylum.
In those cases, adult immigrants would be held separately from their children while they are being prosecuted, and the children are put in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The Trump administration has defended the move by saying even U.S. citizens are separated from their children if they are being prosecuted for a crime, and that immigrants aren’t treated any differently just because they try to enter the country illegally with their children.
[Related: Trump, Democrats fight over blame for family separation at the southwest border]
The Health and Human Services Department, which is over the Office of Refugee Resettlement, said last month that it was considering using military bases to house children of illegal immigrants as the country is determining their status, the Associated Press reported.
Merkley said on Sunday that the center, which is an old Walmart, “may currently be housing hundreds of refugee children who have been separated from their parents.”
