July 23, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 124 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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BORDER SECURITY; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 124
(Senate - July 23, 2019)
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[Page S4985] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] BORDER SECURITY Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, last Friday, I went with a group of Senate Democrats to visit several detention centers at our southern border, including the Border Patrol facility in McAllen and processing centers at Donna and Ursula, TX. The searing accounts about the conditions endured by the migrant families are true. We saw overcrowding. We heard migrants tell us they are unable to brush their teeth, shower, call their families, or access feminine hygiene products. We saw children in soiled clothing, caged and expressionless. It is heartbreaking--the thousand-smile stares on the faces of toddlers where smiles and laughter should have been. It breaks your heart and makes your blood boil all at once. But we saw something else. I am always looking for the positive. We saw a much better model employed by a nonprofit Catholic Charities center, run by Sister Norma Pimentel. There, families had access to medicine, food, and showers as their asylum cases were being processed in an orderly fashion. These people were being treated humanely, and they were following the law. Sister Norma told us that the government could replicate this model. She explained that if ICE reinstated the Family Case Management Program, we could see as high as 99-percent compliance with immigration court orders without the need for expanded detention and overcrowding. What a difference that could make. Sister Norma showed us that we can treat these migrants with respect and decency without sacrificing border security or law and order. The two are not mutually exclusive. That is such an important point. You can have both humane treatment and rule of law. Anyone who says that we must choose between treating these people humanely and enforcing our laws is offering a false choice. We can do both, and we can follow the model of Catholic Charities all along the border. That is why Democrats have been pushing to restart and infuse more dollars into alternatives to detention despite Republican objections. The Family Case Management Program, coupled with a Democratic bill to address the treatment of children--a bill that Senators Merkley, Feinstein, Durbin, and I have sponsored, as well as many others--over 30 other Democrats, I believe--would both improve the conditions at the detention centers and ensure that families comply with our immigration laws. I would say one more thing about these kids and the parents. They are not criminals. I asked Mark Morgan, who is certainly known as a hard- liner on immigration: What percentage of these kids and parents are criminals? It is a very small percentage. At one point, it was said that 96 percent--and at another point 98 percent--are not criminals. They are the same people our grandparents or our great-grandparents or our great-great-grandparents were, who sought safety and a decent life in America. Their children and their grandchildren--on my father's side I am one of the grandchildren, and on my mother's side I am one of the great-great-grandchildren--have done good things for America throughout the country. That is what America is all about. These people are not fleeing to break the law. They are not fleeing to traffic drugs. They are fleeing because the gangs down there have told the parents: We will rape your daughter, we will murder your son, and we will burn your house if you don't do what we want. They are fleeing for the safety, the beauty, and the opportunity of America, which generations since the 1600s have done and have made this country great. We need to return to a rational discussion about the reality on the ground, and that includes a discussion about the root causes of immigration. Again, when the President says Americans should know that all of these people arriving at our borders are criminals trying to game the law, he should know who they are. As I said, Mark Morgan, his own CBP Commissioner, admitted as much to our congressional delegation on Friday when we questioned him. The vast majority of families are fleeing unimaginable violence and degradation in their countries. So let's get at the root causes of this, instead of just tweeting and going on TV and ranting, which people have done. First, allow migrants to apply for asylum inside their own countries. Second, hire more immigration judges to reduce the backlog in cases at the border. Third, provide security assistance to these Central American countries to help them crack down on the vicious gangs and drug cartels that cause so many to flee in the first place. This is a rational thing to do. I think most Americans, regardless of their ideology, regardless of their party, regardless of their political position, would support this. But the Trump administration has now pledged to end the security assistance to Central American countries. That is counterproductive. It is boneheaded because it is going to cause more people to flee. Unfortunately, it is been typical of the President's approach. This morning, the President tweeted and bragged about how he has cut off funding to Guatemala 9 months ago. It is counterproductive. That means more--not fewer--people at our borders, plain and simple. In my experience, I have not seen the President be serious about dealing with immigration. He has used the issue; he riles up his base without telling them the truth, making them think they are all criminals--I see this on FOX News all the time as well--demeaning immigrants, who are what America is all about, inflaming racial tensions, and stoking fear. So we in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, should take the lead and develop a way forward, a real way that will solve the problems at the border in a way that complies with humanity, the American way, and the rule of law. ____________________
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