Texas Democratic mayor begs President Biden to stop releasing illegal immigrants into border city during crisis

The mayor of a Texas city on the U.S. southern border with Mexico is begging President Joe Biden to stop releasing illegal immigrants into his community during the crisis stemming from Winter Storm Uri.

Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano made an urgent plea to President Biden to stop releasing illegal immigrants into his community because they don't have the resources to help illegal aliens, plus the migrants pose a potential health risk to residents by spreading COVID-19.

"I am pleading and requesting with you to please put a halt to any measures regarding the release of immigrants awaiting court dates, into the city of Del Rio and surrounding areas," Lozano told Biden in a video message.

Del Rio is a city on the southern border that received a record 11 inches of snow this week. The city, which has a U.S. Border Patrol station, has experienced widespread power outages, water shortages, and there are empty food shelves at stores.

"If you do send these individuals into our community, we will be forced to make a decision to leave them without resources under these dire circumstances," the mayor said in the video as images of long lines to grocery stores with empty shelves were shown.

"Please make another plan for this federal issue," he told the president. "If you are going to allow these individuals into our community, I ask that you please provide the supplies and means necessary to accommodate them safely under these extreme circumstances.

"We are completely and utterly spread thin with resources for our community," he continued.

The city has been housing its citizens who are without heat in municipal buildings.

"Our nonprofits, our churches are running thin with resources to provide to our very own citizens," Lozano added. "Additionally, we have been burdened with the inadequate communication systems throughout the entire area, which has impacted our ability to respond and coordinate limited resources and distribution."

Lozano, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran, highlighted his city's medical emergencies that would be exacerbated by an influx of new people.

"We have been outsourcing dialysis treatments for at-need persons within our community," he said of the dire circumstances, adding that the city has had to "relocate the elderly who are in need of power for oxygen tanks."

The mayor also pointed out the health dangers of allowing in large numbers of individuals who have not been tested for the coronavirus.

Lozano noted that the Biden administration has "taken a firm stance on COVID-19 protections for Americans."

"I am asking you to ensure the health and safety of all of our tax-paying citizens along the border are treated with the same urgent consideration," said the mayor.

"Releasing the migrant population without any COVID-19 protection protocols is undermining your commitment to the stand against COVID-19," Lozano said in his message to Biden.

Last week, the Biden administration announced that it will allow 25,000 asylum-seekers into the United States from Mexico while their cases are pending, a dramatic shift from former President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

Earlier this month, Sheriff A.J. Louderback of Jackson County, Texas, said that President Biden was releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. without testing them for the coronavirus.

Lozano declared, "I cannot mix the migrant population with Del Rio residents that are extremely vulnerable and have been displaced due to the extreme weather that has not improved."

"We may be a small town that is off of your radar, but we are a community of 50,000 people who need your attention," Lozano concluded. "We are requesting that you please listen and that you please come through."

Winter storms left 4.1 million Texans without power earlier this week. As of Thursday afternoon, there were an estimated 325,000 people in the state still without power.

In 2019, Lozano made headlines when he blasted state and federal lawmakers for not securing Del Rio from illegal immigrants and called for more CBP officers.

City of Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano makes an urgent plea to the President of the United Stateswww.youtube.com