德克萨斯州边境城市拉雷多的官员最近前往华盛顿特区，要求四个不同的联邦机构不要在镇上2号桥附近为寻求庇护者建造帐篷设施。

拉雷多的代表告诉联邦特工，格兰德河附近的帐篷设施地点是在一个洪泛平原，他们提供了一个更便宜的，更可行选项，根据拉雷多晨报。

这个价值数百万美元的帐篷设施被设计成寻求庇护者可以通过视频会议与庇护法官见面进行听证的地方。这些寻求庇护者大多在墨西哥新拉雷多河对岸等待听证。拉雷多设施将为那些在德州边境从德尔里奥到罗马寻求庇护的人服务。

帐篷仅供听证会使用，预计不会有移民住在那里。

拉雷多官员提出了一个选择，即使用一个名为埃尔门户的城市办公室，也在格兰德河附近，与庇护法官进行视频会议。该市官员本周会见了国土安全部、移民审查执行办公室、司法部和总务管理局的成员，他们表示，他们的建筑对联邦政府来说更具成本效益。

这拉雷多晨报报告称，联邦政府可能已经在帐篷设施上投入了太多资金，以至于现在无法拔掉插头。

拉雷多市长皮特·萨恩斯说，该市提出了一个慷慨的提议，但无法详细说明，因为谈判仍有可能进行。市长说，这不仅能节省联邦政府的钱，还能避免他们在河水淹没设施时的尴尬。

联邦政府完成该项目的最后期限很紧，但萨恩斯表示，该市可能会在同一期限内准备好埃尔门户网站。联邦机构表示，它迁移到城市建筑的可能性值得怀疑，但他们会将该提议纳入自己的指挥系统。

“我可以说我很失望，整个团队都很失望，”萨恩斯说，回忆起华盛顿的官员们似乎真心实意地回应。"但就接受埃尔波特作为替代方案而言，前景并不乐观."

本月早些时候，拉雷多市议会反对联邦政府在2号桥附近建造帐篷设施，因为这将“玷污”这座城市的形象，或许“影响到市中心社区”

“这不仅会玷污拉雷多的形象，因为我们在桥上用帐篷欢迎人们，而且还可能会影响到市中心的社区和我们将要在那里展示的形象，更重要的是，墨西哥商人刺激了我们当地的经济，”拉雷多委员会成员阿尔贝托·托雷斯在拉雷多晨报。

拉雷多有四座国际桥梁，商业和非商业交通穿过格兰德河，连接德克萨斯州和墨西哥。2号桥，也被称为华雷斯-林肯国际大桥，仅用于非商业用途。

华雷斯-林肯国际大桥也被称为德克萨斯州拉雷多的第二大桥。这是2019年7月20日的截图，显示了从大桥墨西哥一侧通过非商业大桥进入美国的交通情况。德克萨斯州拉雷多市截图

 

 

 

 

U.S. COULD BUILD TENT FACILITY FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS IN FLOOD PLAIN AT THE BORDER

 

Officials from the Texas border city of Laredo recently went to Washington, D.C., to request four different federal agencies not build a tent facility for asylum seekers near Bridge 2 in town.

Laredo representatives told the federal agents the proposed tent facility site next to the Rio Grande was in a flood plain, and they presented a cheaper, more viable option, according to the Laredo Morning Times.

The multi-million dollar tent facility is designed as a place where asylum seekers can face an asylum judge through video conferencing for their hearing. Most of these asylums seekers have been awaiting their hearing while across the river in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The Laredo facility will be for those seeking asylum at the Texas border from Del Rio to Roma.

The tent is meant for hearings only, and no migrants are expected to be housed there.

Laredo officials presented an option of using a city office called El Portal, which is also near the Rio Grande, for the video conferencing with asylum judges. The city officials, who met this week with members of the Department of Homeland Security, Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Department of Justice and General Services Administration, said their building would be more cost-effective for the federal government.

The Laredo Morning Times report states the federal government probably already has too much invested in the tent facility to pull the plug on it now.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz said the city made a generous offer, but could not elaborate as negotiations could still happen. The mayor said not only would it save the federal government money, it would also save them the embarrassment should the river flood the facility.

The federal government is on a tight deadline to complete the project, yet Saenz said the city could have El Portal ready by the same deadline. The federal agencies said the chance of it moving to the city building are doubtful, but that they would take the proposal up their chain of command.

"I can say I was disappointed, the whole group was," said Saenz, recalling the officials in Washington seemed genuine in their response. "But it was not very promising as far as accepting El Portal as the alternative."

Earlier this month, the Laredo City Council opposed the federal government constructing a tent facility near Bridge 2 because it would "taint the image" of the city, and perhaps "affect the downtown community."

"This is not only going to taint the image of Laredo as we welcome people with the tent at our bridge, but (is) also probably going to affect the downtown community and the image we're going to put out there, and even more so our local economy that's stimulated by the Mexican merchant," Laredo Council Member Alberto Torres said in the Laredo Morning Times.

Laredo has four international bridges where commercial and non-commercial traffic cross the Rio Grande, connecting Texas to Mexico. Bridge 2, also known as the Juarez-Lincoln International bridge, is for non-commercial use only.

 

The Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge is also known as Bridge 2 in Laredo, Texas. This screenshot from July 20, 2019, shows traffic from the Mexico side of the bridge using the non-commercial bridge to enter the United States.PHOTO VIA SCREENSHOT FROM CITY OF LAREDO, TEXAS