Joaquin Castro Blasts Trump for U.S. Gassing of Migrants at the Border

Congressman Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, has joined the growing chorus of lawmakers outraged by the use of teargas on migrants who rushed the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday.

Castro, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and First Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said the Trump Administration had "failed miserably" to provide an orderly and humane asylum process for a caravan of Central American migrants now in Tijuana.

“The decision to gas asylum seekers—including many women and children—was cruel, unnecessary, and inconsistent with who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation," Castro said in a statement. "President Trump should reestablish an orderly asylum process, and coordinate with Mexico and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure families can petition for asylum in a fair and safe fashion while simultaneously receiving necessary resources while they wait. We must also work to stabilize the Northern Triangle countries to address the root causes of migration."

Castro, a fierce critic of Trump's immigration policies, also urged Congress to work on comprehensive immigration reform to stave off future border incidents.

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