MCALLEN, Texas – Some Michigan leaders are in Texas and more are headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to see the immigration crisis firsthand.
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett joined other U.S. mayors at the border Thursday. They said that Congress had its chance to pass immigration legislation but instead has done nothing. House Republicans are postponing a vote on their immigration compromise legislation until Friday.
Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D-Southfield) and about 25 House members plan to head to the border Saturday.
"We are just now being made aware of the separation of the children and you saw the response across the country," Lawrence said.
Some of President Donald Trump's supporters claim that the practice at the border is not new and dates back several administrations, while Lawrence said the zero tolerance policy is new. According to NBC, there was no widespread Obama-era policy of separating families.
"Never have we just when a person comes in we automatically deem them a criminal and incarcerate them," Lawrence said. "No we have not done that before."
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to keep families together at the southern border, but it's unclear when children who have been separated from their families will be reunited with them.