U.S. Representatives hold hearing on immigration and domestic terrorism in El Paso

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — Members of the United States Judiciary Committee are meeting in El Paso to discuss issues regarding immigration and violence in our country linked to racism.

The meeting comes one month after the Cielo Vista Walmart shooting and the announcement that arrests at the United States border have decreased significantly in the last couple of months.

The Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship will be focusing on conditions along the border and violence targeted toward minority communities.

In an interview, El Paso U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, stated that what is happening in the United States is "unjust, un-American, unfair, and deadly."

"For people, like those of us who live in El Paso, Texas, these laws are a matter of life and deaths," said Escobar.

State Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Sylvia Garcia, and members of the El Paso Country Attorney's Office are also in El Paso.

After the news conference Congress members began the hearing by questioning a panel that included El Paso County Attorney Jo Bernal, a Brown university professor and the CEO of the YMCA.

All said they believe the President's anti-immigrant rhetoric has instilled hate and ultimately domestic terrorism into people.

They all testified that anti-immigration talk is putting fear into our children.

Congressmembers specifically asked County Attorney Bernal about the bi-national culture in El Paso.

She told the committee that "El Paso is the least racist, least bigoted city, but the rest of the world sees us differently and many people here in this community, since the Walmart shooting, are afraid to be in a big crowd anywhere because they are Hispanic."

Many members of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee joined Escobar.

They said Republican members that were invited to join in the hearing, but backed out at the last minute.