Mayor Pete Saenz Statement Regarding Current Migrant Situation
Written by admin, Jul 16, 2021, 0 Comments
Courtesy David Alegria,
Laredo, Texas – During last Monday’s Special City Council Meeting and after hearing from our community and, more importantly, the stakeholders that are dealing with the influx of bussed migrants, the rise of COVID-19 positive cases, lack of capacities at our NGO’s and, particularly, our hospitals, and other related matters, Council directed our legal department to seek court intervention to temporarily pause the transfer of migrants coming from outside of Laredo.
This is necessary to refresh and regroup with local and federal representatives to find a solution that is fair and best suited for our community and migrants. As Mayor, it is extremely important to me that our community not only continues enhancing and using local connections, but federal as well. The City of Laredo is committed to doing its part in alleviating this situation.
City management, the Emergency Management Coordinator, Chief Guillermo Heard, and Emergency Operation Center will continue meeting weekly with local stakeholders to coordinate and collaborate on finding the best solutions along with federal representatives.
I express my gratitude to Congressman Henry Cuellar for helping us put this meeting together with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I also want to thank Senator Judith Zaffirini for her continuous support, the Chief Medical Officer at DHS, Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, for guiding us through this process, and local organizations such as the Holding Institute, Casa de Misericordia, and Catholic Charities for assisting migrants on a daily basis.
