PORTLAND, Ore. — United States Senator Jeff Merkley has invited a mother and child who were separated at the southern border last year to be his guests for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Feb. 5.
Merkley, Oregon’s junior Democratic senator, has made numerous trips to the U.S. border with Mexico over the past year as the debate over illegal immigration and border security continues to take center stage. In June, Merkley made national headlines after he was turned away from visiting a children’s detention center in Brownsville, Texas, while investigating the Trump administration’s child separation policy.
“This child separation policy came from a dark and evil place within the heart of this administration,” said Merkley. “Innocent children suffered because of deeds that were carried out in our names and using our tax dollars as Americans.”
According to a press release from Merkley’s office, his guests will be 12-year-old Yakelin Garcia Contreras and her mother, Albertina Contreras Teletor. Yakelin was separated from her mother for nearly two months before being reunited in July 2018, Merkley’s office said.
Albertina and Yakelin fled from Guatemala and arrived in May 2018 at the southern border, where they said they were told asylum seekers couldn't cross at official ports of entry. The mother and daughter ended up crossing a river and surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents.
“We fled our homes seeking protection from violence and a better life for my daughter,” said Albertina Contreras Telator.
Merkley has continued to be a vocal critic of President Trump’s policies addressing illegal immigration and asylum seekers. In December, Merkley visited a migrant children’s tent camp in Texas, where he and other Democrats called for the shutdown of the camp. The camp was shut down in mid-January.
Earlier this year, Merkley released a 2017 leaked draft of the Trump administration’s family separation policy.
Merkley has been rumored to be a potential Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential race. He recently said he'll make an announcement regarding a potential run during the first quarter of the year.
