City council sends message in support of reunification

The San Marcos City Council sent “a clear message” to the community as Mayor Pro-Tem Lisa Prewitt put it, by passing a resolution supporting the reunification of families at the border.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, expresses support for a U.S. Conference of Mayors resolution adopted June 11 calling for the reversal of the Department of Homeland Security’s family separation policies. The mayors’ organization passed an additional resolution calling on the administration to “quickly and openly return separated children to their parents” and, Mayor John Thomaides said, requesting action to make sure that “family separation never again plays a part in our nation’s immigration policy.” The city’s resolution reflects that sentiment as well.

Resolution No. 2018-120R expresses the city council’s support for the reversal of family separation policies, reading in part, “Separating children from their families in this manner is inconsistent with American family values. Many of these families are fleeing violence in their home countries, and it is inhumane to punish them for seeking safety and invoking their right to seek asylum.”

The city’s resolution acknowledges President Donald Trump’s executive order ordering the cessation of family separation but requests that Congress take action to make sure the “wholesale separation of children from their families at the border” ends and that families be reunited without requiring the parents to abandon their claims for asylum.

“Although we do have a new … executive order to stop the separation of families, just a reminder, there are still over 2,000 children that are separated from their parents,” Prewitt said. “These are babies, young boys and girls in camps, some are in cages. … I’m appalled by this.”

Prewitt said the city’s resolution is meant to show San Marcos residents what the city’s leadership believes in.

“We believe in humanity,” she said.

Grassroots immigrant rights group Mano Amiga issued a statement about the council’s decision to adopt the resolution.

“We’re glad for council’s condemnation of the unfolding human rights crisis,” said Jordan Buckley, co-founder of Mano Amiga, “but we believe word must be coupled with deed: It’s easy enough to denounce a humanitarian catastrophe, but what tangible policies are council implementing in San Marcos to ensure children are not needlessly separated from their parents due to SMPD policies? 

“We commend councilman Ed Mihalkanin for requesting that our city manager, Bert Lumbreras, research and report back on best practices by other Texas cities — including Austin and its new, noble Freedom City provisions — to tackle the overreaching criminalization of immigrants as well as black, brown and impoverished residents, generally. We look forward to city officials building on councilman Mihalkanin and councilwoman Prewitt’s initiative to implement common-sense city policies that legitimately make our whole community safer.”