Gina Hinojosa Echoes Joaquin Castro’s Push to Close Dilley 'Trailer Prison’

Rep. Joaquin Castro

Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa (D-TX) are calling for the closure of the Dilley Detention Center.

As the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration have intensified in the last few months, Rep. Castro and other Texas Democrats have continued to call for the closure of the “Dilley Trailer Prison” that holds families with their parents.

“I have spoken with so many folks who have committed no crime,” Rep. Castro said at a Wednesday press conference on Capitol Hill. “Who have been hard-working people, who have been in the country oftentimes for 10, 20, some of them 30 years, and they’re wondering how we got to this place.”

Rep. Castro said last week’s election was a “rebuke” of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

“The mass deportation campaign has been killing people, killing communities and killing business in our country,” he said. “When your policy is a policy of racial profiling, all of South Texas becomes a target, and that’s what we saw.”

In the last two years, Rep. Castro said he has continued to meet with constituents impacted by these immigration enforcement efforts. He said although he does not have a clear timeline for when conditions will change, the incoming Congress has him optimistic about the possibility of meaningful reform.

“Change is on the way, and that’s what I believe America voted for last week,” Rep. Castro said.

This comes as another voice, incoming Gov. Hinojosa, has also increased her demands to see the center shut down.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Hinojosa said she plans to use the state’s licensing power to prevent Texas private prison companies from detaining children.

“Locking up little kids like that, even with their parents, that is child abuse,” she said.

Rep. Castro said he looks forward to working with Gov. Hinojosa to “to shut down the Dilley Trailer Prison once and for all.”

“Now is the time for Democrats to get to work, shut down the Dilley Trailer Prison, and end family detention once and for all,” Rep. Castro.

Payton Anderson

Payton Anderson is a reporter for Texas Politics based in Washington, D.C., where she's pursuing her bachelor's degree in journalism at American University. Originally from California, Payton's reporting experience spans all avenues of digital and multimedia publishing. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer and being outdoors.