Media

WASHINGTON — Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2021:

WASHINGTON— The Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on Delta to continue meeting with communities impacted by their January 14, 2020 fuel dump over the Los Angeles area. The incident rained jet fuel over at least six elementary schools where children were playing outside. Hundreds of children, including many Latinos, reported skin irritation and felt sick or nauseated, and may face long-term health consequences because of the incident. In the weeks since, Delta has stopped participating in some of the town halls and community meetings being held for those impacted by the fuel dump. These meetings serve as a venue for residents to share their concerns, learn about available resources, and attain answers to some of their questions as to why fuel was dumped on their communities.

WASHINGTON—Representatives Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Joaquin Castro, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, today demanded information from the State Department on recently announced rule changes impacting non-immigrant visa applicants seeking to visit the United States. In a letter to Assistant Secretary of State Carl Risch, the lawmakers called for more information about the rationale for the rule changes, reportedly designed to curb “birth tourism,” while underscoring the potentially significant consequences of the new rules.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, today led a group of leading Democrats in calling on the State Department’s Inspector General to immediately open an investigation into the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras. Joining Menendez and Castro in requesting the IG probe were House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (NY-16), Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Chairman Albio Sires (NJ-8), and Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Chair Zoe Lofgren (CA-16).

WASHINGTON— Congressional leaders called on Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to immediately halt implementation of the Trump Administration’s new asylum programs, Prompt Asylum Claim Review (PACR) and the Humanitarian Asylum Review Process (HARP). These programs do not help asylum seekers but instead systematically deny them due process, leave them in life-threatening circumstances, and ultimately deny the opportunity to justly seek asylum in the United States.

WASHINGTON — Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) issued the following statement to mark one year of the Trump Administration enforcing their Remain in Mexico Program, also known as the “Migrant Protection Protocols”:

WASHINGTON — Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) issued the following statement following a 5-4 Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump Administration to put into effect the public charge rule while litigation on the cases continue. The public charge rule would allow the government to deny permanent residency to immigrant families that may use public programs and benefits:

WASHINGTON — Yesterday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the Trump Administration’s Public Charge rule to go into effect while the merits of the case continue to be argued in lower courts.