An area lawmaker is back from a self-funded trip last week to the US-Mexico border to see conditions there for himself. Stony Point and Orange County Assemblyman Colin Schmitt went to the city of Del Rio, Texas, not far from Laughlin Air Force Base, and toured the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition’s emergency shelter. The coalition is a group of area citizens and agencies that help transition refugees to their destinations upon release from federal custody. Schmitt says New York has become a destination for people by creating what he calls immigration “pull factors,” such as driver’s licenses or other benefits and state programs that lure many to come to the country illegally…
The humanitarian shelter Schmitt toured is about 400 miles southeast of El Paso. Schmitt says he will be putting together a report on his trip and sharing it with his Albany colleagues to help shape future legislation.