Texas AFL-CIO President to Visit Tornillo Detention Facility

Amid reports that the federal government plans to close a child detention center in Tornillo next month, Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy will join labor leaders from around the state, politicians and activists attempting to deliver supplies and gauge conditions at the facility.

Levy will speak at a 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 26 rally outside the U.S. District Courthouse, 500 E. San Antonio Ave. in El Paso, and travel by bus with the group to the detention camp in Tornillo.  

Levy made it plain the harm done by child detention under the Justice Department’s “zero tolerance” policy is continuing and must be addressed.

“Closing Tornillo may seek to move a low point in American and Texas history into the shadows,” Levy said. “But the gesture is meaningless unless all children are reunited with their families and every family gets justice, not a ticket to jail and not a call from the President of the United States to deny basic constitutional rights. The working families of Texas will not rest while children are being harmed in America’s name.”