July 25, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 126 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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THE CRISIS AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 126
(House of Representatives - July 25, 2019)
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[Pages H7446-H7451] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] THE CRISIS AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. General Leave Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, to begin Special Orders, I ask for unanimous consent that Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Illinois? There was no objection. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Representatives Pocan, Porter, Tlaib, and Jayapal. We are here today to call for justice for immigrants. We are here to put a spotlight on President Trump's harmful attacks on immigrants and asylum seekers. Since President Trump took office, he has implemented some of the harshest and most racist immigration policies in our country's history. Trump is also repeating one of the worst themes in our history, that of relentless attacks designed to divide our country. Trump wants people to think that brown and black immigrants are not worthy of compassion, legal due process, or human rights. Despite organizing in our communities, the Trump White House has continued to push forward its anti-immigrant agenda. As an immigrant myself, the stories break my heart and make me really angry. A year ago, the separation of families and the caging of children shocked the conscience of Americans. A year later, we all mourned the deaths of Oscar Martinez Ramirez and his daughter Angie Valeria, who were found on the edge of a river embankment, both drowned in an effort to reach the promise of America. We used to think that sharing vulnerable images of the deceased children would elicit our deepest emotions and that would be enough for change, but even after the deaths of Oscar and his daughter, children continued dying at the hands of this administration, and nothing has changed. It is tempting to become desensitized. It is easy to believe that this is the new normal. This is anything but [[Page H7447]] normal. This is unprecedented. Whenever a scandal comes out or the President feels threatened, he comes after immigrants and those who do not look like him. It is unconscionable that the President has put lives, families, children, and communities in danger in a blatant effort to distract the media and our country. Today is an opportunity for my colleagues and me to, one, put a face on the people being impacted by these policies--people are real lives-- frame this as the agenda of a President and a party who seek to hold power by dividing Americans, and to remind our country that every attack is connected. This is all part of a broader agenda of hate. I now yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky). Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I am really so proud and grateful to join you, Congressman Garcia. We are both from Illinois, and we see some of the same examples of the fear that is plaguing our communities wherever there are immigrants. And I want to tell you, I take this issue very personally. Neither of my parents were born in the United States of America, but they came here as small children with their parents, who made a really good life. My grandfather had a horse and wagon and actually sold vegetables in Humboldt Park, part of your district right now, carrying heavy bags of potatoes up and down the stairs. Four children, and they all went to college. They made a good life, and now his granddaughter is in the United States Congress. Well, I will tell you, my grandparents, my parents did not live with the fear that this President has brought to millions and millions of people and, of course, people in our district. I want to just tell you that exactly 1 week ago today, I flew home, landed at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, and heard that something was happening over at the international terminal, that there was now a crowd of people and there were children ages, I think it was 16, 10, and 9, minors, who were being held at the airport. These were citizen children. Why were they being held there? They came from Mexico. They had been there on vacation. They came with an adult relative of theirs who had a valid passport, but for some reason Customs and Border Protection sent that adult back to Mexico--we are investigating exactly why--and now said only the mother could pick up these minor children. Well, I get that, except that their brother, who is a DACA recipient older than them, an adult, came to pick them up, and they were not released. A lawyer was there with a signed affidavit witnessed by members of the consulate, the Mexican consulate. They would not release the children to her. By now, there was a crowd of people holding signs ``Release the children.'' They had arrived at about 3 in the morning. They were given two cots during the night, meaning one of those girls had to sleep on the floor. This is what is happening at the border, of course--mistreating children. So, finally, there was an agreement that was made: Okay, Mom will come. Guess what? Mom is undocumented. She was afraid to come, but she came, surrounded by the Mexican consulate, by the lawyer, by me, to make sure that she was able to take her children home. We heard that members of Customs and Border Protection said--and we are investigating this, too--that, if these were normal circumstances, that mother would have been detained. Understand, they would have detained the mother of citizen children who just wanted to travel to Mexico, come home, and go be with their parents. What is going on in the United States of America? We fear that children like that are being used to lure undocumented parents to the airport. That is what we fear. And this is just one example of one family, of one problem that had to be resolved. I am telling you, I am so heartbroken. I am going to the border on Wednesday, and I want to go see again for myself what is going on down there. But we have to say, no, this cannot happen. We are the country of the Statue of Liberty, the Statue of Liberty that welcomed my father and his family to this country, not the family of walls and fear and mistreatment and children dying in custody. No, Mr. President, this is not the America that we all deserve. And thank you, Congressman, for leading this discussion. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch). Mr. WELCH. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Garcia for yielding. I am from Vermont, and it is hard to be farther from the southern border in the United States than being in Vermont, but the question that people ask me in Vermont, really, more than anything else, is how is it that in the name of our government, under the authority of our flag, we have instituted a policy, since rescinded, to take children away from parents? How is that possible? The President talks about a crisis at the border. No argument about that; there is a crisis at the border. But is the right response to it that you separate families? Is the right response that you call the people who are coming gang members and rapists and killers? I went to the border, as well, and met many of the women and the men and the children who were there, and as you know better than anybody-- and, by the way, I really appreciate your leadership on this and the leadership of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus--the people who are there are there out of desperation. One woman I spoke to, who was from Guatemala, told us that she had a 13-year-old daughter, and her husband had already been murdered, and the mother was told that her daughter was going to become the girlfriend of one of the gang members. It was that fear that made her leave her home. People do not want to leave their home, and they only do it when they absolutely have to to save their lives. She and her daughter set out in the night for the more than 1,000- mile journey to the southern border. About two-thirds of the way there, the mother started getting nervous, hearing stories, wondering what it would be like, and said to her daughter: Honey, we have got to go back. The daughter looked at the mother and said: Mom, we can't. We are not safe. You are not safe, and I am not safe. They arrived at the southern border, and they make an effort to cross the bridge and are not allowed because of the go-slow policy and no capacity to ``process.'' They wade across the river and turn themselves in, and their request is for asylum. That has been criminalized by the Trump administration. The daughter and the mother are separated. When we were with the mom, she didn't know where her daughter was. Is she a rapist? Is she a criminal? Is she an MS-13 member? She is a mom trying to protect her daughter. She is a mother who lost her husband already. Now, there is not an easy answer to that, and none of us suggest there is. But it is not the answer to say that anybody who is seeking to save their life, fleeing economic desperation, fleeing physical violence, seeking to protect a son or a daughter, is a criminal. They are asking for help. And it is a tough question: How much help can we give? We have to have secure borders, but are we solving the problem by making it a crime to ask for help? Are we solving the problem by taking kids and separating them from their parents? Are we solving the problem where we cut aid off to the countries Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, where most of the people are coming from? The answer to that is no. And this is a hard problem, but it can't be resolved unless there is some mutual recognition on both sides that it is something we have to work together to try to address. There are refugees around the world. There are some refugees who are coming to our southern border. But this is becoming a worldwide problem, and it is a combination of factors of failed states, of environmental damage, of economic desperation; and we have to address this in a way that we acknowledge the obligation we have to one another. So my hope is that the President, whose leadership on this is absolutely [[Page H7448]] essential, tones it down and acknowledges that this is an issue that we have to work together to solve, and it is not just the heel of the boot that is going to solve it, not just the punitive measures of taking kids from parents that is going to solve it, not just cutting off aid to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador that is going to solve it. We are ready to work, and we need to work because it is, more than anything else, essential that we acknowledge the responsibility all of us have, whatever our policies are, to treat people humanely. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Garcia so much for his work on this, and I pledge to continue working with the gentleman every way I can. {time} 1845 Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Welch, Congresswoman Schakowsky of Illinois, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus for allowing me to lead this conversation. The remarks of the previous speaker are a good segue to some background information from a historical context that I will share in the rest of the proceeding. Migrants are escaping some of the harshest regimes in Central America, where political and economic turmoil have generated abject poverty, abuse, and violent crime. Unlike many previous waves of immigrants, Central Americans are not arriving for purely economic reasons or to pursue the American Dream. Instead, they are coming to seek safety and the chance to live without fear of death, rape, or abuse. Those coming to our border now are families, newborns, children, and pregnant women escaping life-or-death situations as well as poverty. These deeply rooted causes and push factors help explain why so many Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Hondurans are fleeing their countries and heading toward the U.S. El Salvador. El Salvador has been trapped in a cycle of violence that can be traced back to its civil war, in which the U.S. was complicit. The MS-13 gang, which many politicians like to talk about, and frequently referred to by the President in justification of his hardline immigration policies, was actually formed in L.A., in Los Angeles, California, and introduced into El Salvador when its members were deported, often to a country they barely knew. Guatemala also comes out of a great conflict in that country. Jakelin Caal Maquin, the 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in El Paso in December from cardiac arrest caused by severe dehydration and shock, was forced to leave her home due to severe poverty. Her relatives explained that her father did all he could to stay in the land, but necessity made him try to get to the U.S. Honduras. Gender-based violence is the second leading cause of death for women in Honduras. In a country where emergency contraception and abortion are banned even for rape victims, survivors of sexual violence have few options if they become pregnant. They can seek to terminate the pregnancy and risk prison time, or they can go through with it and face one of the highest maternal mortality rates in all of Latin America. As a parent, I understand and empathize with parents who will do whatever it takes to give their children a better life. When you have a gun to your head, people threatening to rape your child, extort your business, or force your son to work for the cartels, what would you do? Aid to the Northern Triangle region of Central America is a long- standing pillar of American foreign policy supported by most Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Providing humanitarian aid to countries in the Northern Triangle will help stabilize those economies and lift millions out of poverty in the process. Establishing economic stability in those nations is at the root of an effective strategy to reduce the current surge in migrants seeking asylum and, ultimately, an effort to solve the root causes of the humanitarian crisis at the border. Despite this understanding from the State Department, the Trump administration is reducing aid. Annual assistance to Central America has declined by nearly 30 percent since fiscal year 2016. Funding is crucial to programs that focus on good governance, economic growth, and social welfare in the Northern Triangle. This is an issue of national security in our country and basic human needs and dignity abroad. Instead of receiving children and families with open arms, President Trump is cutting foreign aid for countries in the Northern Triangle, further exacerbating conditions there and ultimately feeding into his manufactured crisis at the border. Potentially hundreds of thousands more will be forced to make the difficult decision and head toward the U.S., and the administration knows this. Aid is not an immediate fix or the ultimate solution. An investment in the region can, however, help mitigate violence, corruption, and poverty, which can help over the long term. The State Department's recent announcement to put $180 million on hold, to divert further funds, will impact political stability and economic opportunities in those countries and, therefore, the push factors affecting migration. President Trump was right when he declared a crisis at the border. What he failed to explain is the role this administration has played in aggravating the situation. There is real suffering. Every day, refugees arriving at the southern border are being detained and held in inhumane conditions, children locked in cages and infants dying in our care. The bottom line is very simple. The President has made the crisis at the border significantly worse, and it will only intensify with cuts in foreign assistance to the Northern Triangle. President Trump is waging an assault on all fronts against immigrants and asylum seekers and a full assault against the very morals and founding principles of our country, principles of acceptance, inclusiveness, and refuge for those who seek its shelter. In the interior, for Americans living away from the border, it can often seem like the President's assault on immigrants and asylum seekers is a distant issue we see on the news, but the truth is that the President's terrorizing of communities extends to our backyards, our schools, our neighborhoods, and our church congregations throughout the country. I want to take a moment to share a story and give a face to the problem. Without understanding our own personal stake in the well-being of our friends, coworkers, and neighbors, we cannot fully grasp the extent of the President's assault. Nothing we do in these Halls is worth debating if we are not willing to understand how our decisions ultimately affect people's lives. ICE raids are happening not only at the border. These government actions that separate families and tear children from their mothers are happening in well-established immigrant communities around the country, including many in my district in Chicago. Francisca Lino, a mother and grandmother from Chicago, is living this reality as we speak. She is married to a U.S. citizen. She has three U.S.-citizen children and other grandchildren. A law-abiding, hardworking woman who had never received even a parking ticket in her life received an order of deportation under the Trump administration. As a result, she was forced to seek sanctuary in a church, where she has been living for the past 2 years. During this time, besides being away from her children and husband, she also missed the birth of her grandson Diego. Confined to a space that welcomed her but is not by any means suitable for someone to live without the possibility of ever going out, Francisca and her family are asking for our help. If she ever tried to step out for a moment, she can be sure that she would be caught by ICE officials, who are constantly surveilling the church. Her decision to fight back against Trump's cruel immigration policies have taken a toll on her family. Her daughters have suffered emotional trauma, but that is not all. As a provider for her family, the void she left when she took sanctuary has been felt economically as well. In my district and around the country, there are many people like Francisca who have been nothing but law-abiding, hardworking neighbors, contributing to our economy by paying taxes and supporting the community they live in. [[Page H7449]] In return, however, many of our neighbors, who are no different than ourselves, save for the lack of certain papers, have been met with oppression from an administration that is hellbent on using immigrants as scapegoats to explain the deep-rooted problems in our country. It is up to Congress to point out the real problems and stop Trump's xenophobic and irrational policies. ICE raids throughout the country continue to terrorize families and communities, hurt our local economies and small businesses, and rip U.S.-citizen children from their parents. The President's assault on immigrants goes well beyond the border. It is terrorizing those all around us for nothing other than political gain. Blatant suppression of votes and intimidation of communities across the land: Recent news that the Census will be printed without the citizenship question is a victory for everyone in this country. This is especially important for historically undercounted groups, including communities of color, people living in large housing units, and immigrants. Every single person in our democracy counts and must be counted in the Census to distribute Federal funding and resources accurately. The Constitution is clear on this topic. The final Census count determines so much of our daily lives: new hospitals and schools, representation in government, funding programs like Medicaid. Ensuring everyone counts ensures funding for the programs our constituents need and for healthy neighborhoods. Recently released documents have proven what we already suspected, that the Trump administration announced the addition of a citizenship question in yet another attempt to disenfranchise and intimidate the immigrant community. It was a cheap political move to undermine the integrity of the Census. Is this person a citizen of the United States? A seemingly small question, but one with so many implications. This is especially true for children, including U.S.-citizen children living in mixed-status families, families that might avoid the Census for fear of their information being shared. Our fight to count every single person is not over. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. The back-and-forth of the citizenship question left many of my constituents scared and confused. This remains the administration's goal. While President Trump has backed down from his attempt to add a citizenship question to the Census, he is directing U.S. agencies to provide all information they have on U.S. citizenship. In other words, he continues to use any means of intimidation to threaten immigrants. When one method is blocked, he tries another. Ensuring a complete count on the 2020 Census is a fight we can win. I started working on it as a Cook County commissioner and will continue working to ensure that every single person is counted. Our representation, schools, hospitals, and healthcare depend on it. The President continues to weaponize his office in every possible way. We must fight back until we have justice for all and justice for immigrants. Madam Speaker, today, we have heard powerful stories and comments from my colleagues from all around the country about the countless ways that President Trump is driving an anti-immigrant agenda and terrorizing communities all around the country, whether it is the detention of American citizens, Trump ending asylum protections and eligibility, changes to the citizenship test, placing children in cages to send a message, or leaving women and children in inhumane conditions at detention camps. We must remember that this administration is not only hurting immigrants, but it is hurting citizens, mixed-status families, and entire communities, Black, White, Asian, and Latino. These harmful tactics may be aimed at a few, but they are harming us all. {time} 1900 Trump's assault on immigrants and asylum seekers is an assault on all Americans, an assault on our values of inclusivity, an assault on our history of welcoming the world's tired and weary. He is leading a full- court press on the very soul of who we are as Americans. Deeply disturbing is the fact that we know that Trump's ongoing attacks on immigrants are deeply rooted in racism. We see it in the Muslim ban, we see it in the 2020 census citizenship question, and the public charge rule. Trump says that criminals, drug dealers, and rapists are invading our country casting a generalization over communities all over the land. That is false. It is the reason he wants fewer immigrants from s-hole countries and more from northern European countries like Norway, or so he has said. When a crowd chanted recently ``Send her back'' in response to Trump's attacks against my colleagues, we knew it was never about legal immigration. As an immigrant, I take this personally. When the President announced ICE raids, we know his intent was to deliberately terrorize Black, Brown, and immigrant communities. Livelihoods and families are at stake and many in the communities, like the ones I represent, were thrown into fear and trauma when the President threatened raids over Twitter. Parents today are forced to have tough conversations with their children to set up emergency plans in the event they would not return home from work. This is sad and tragic. While the President continues to attack immigrants and asylum seekers, I remind my constituents that this is not the time to be fearful or timid, this is the time to keep fighting, to act like courageous Americans, and those who aspire to be Americans, as well. We are a nation of many peoples and certainly of immigrants. America is and has been great, precisely because we have long welcomed immigrants with open arms and will continue doing so. To be American is to be of immigrant heritage, with the exception of our Native American sisters and brothers, all of whom have also suffered because of tactics to divide us by race, by creed, or by country of origin. Together, we are stronger than this President. And no matter how long this assault on immigrants and asylum seekers goes on, it is in our blood, as Americans, to never lose faith in the fight for equal human dignity and opportunity for all. We must fight until there is justice for all and justice for immigrants in America. If we are talking about Trump's assault on immigrants, we cannot leave out what the President has done to Dreamers. At the beginning of his administration, the President rescinded DACA under the authority of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That action was the opening salvo in President Trump's assault on immigrants using the power of the Oval Office. The decision to end DACA and the DACA program was a direct attack on young men and women, all of whom were brought into this country through no decision of their own. Many came as babies. Many DACA recipients or Dreamers call no other country but America their home. Unfortunately, they have to work harder than anyone else to have access to the same opportunities afforded to their friends and classmates in the same country that we all love. That is the case of Elizeth Arguelles, a 23-year-old Dreamer from my district. She is also from my neighborhood of Little Village in Chicago. Elizeth is paying her way through college by making and selling tamales. At age 9, she learned to make tamales and started helping her mother sell them in the streets of Chicago. Since elementary school, she has been waking up at 3:30 in the morning to make the tamales before going out to sell them at 7:30. Elizeth will graduate from college next year, and we could say her story is a hallmark of success and American perseverance. Saying so, however, ignores the dark reality of her situation. Her story is, by all means, a picture-perfect example of America's spirit and hard work and perseverance. She deserves that credit. Her story, however, is far from a feel-good story. Rather, it is yet another example of how our political system has failed hardworking people in our country. Elizeth's success is hers alone. Our government has and continues to fail her by maintaining an anti-immigrant policy that fails to account for children [[Page H7450]] brought here against their own conscious will. It is a reminder that the Dream and Promise Act passed in the House of Representatives must be passed in the Senate immediately. Up to 2.5 million immigrants across the country, people like Elizeth, would be eligible for protection under H. Res. 6, including 37,000 immigrants in Chicago alone. Through the Dream and Promise Act, Elizeth and her family and over 85,000 people in my city who live in mixed-status families would have legal certainty. I applaud Elizeth's perseverance and determination to fulfill her dream of graduating from a 4-year university. But I also hope that the Members of the Senate are hearing the cries of aspiring young Americans who want to continue to contribute to our country, to lead our country, and to be exemplary citizens by giving them a path to legalization and citizenship. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee). Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, first, I would like to congratulate the gentleman from Illinois, Congressman Garcia, not only for his legacy and leadership here in the United States Congress, but really for the work of reconciliation and friendship in the great city of Chicago, working with so many different groups and understanding the myriad of issues dealing with immigrants. Madam Speaker, I rise today to, first of all, say to my fellow Americans--that was something utilized by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. And I would think that, as he said it many, many years ago, America was less diverse--I use it now, because I think it is important in a Nation that is enormously diverse, that we, in fact, use the words ``fellow Americans,'' so that we cannot pit one group of Americans against another, these immigrants against those who are here, or those who have been immigrants that have come and now have either gotten status or been here for a long time. Let us not let the administration pit one American against another. We are, in fact, really our brothers' and sisters' keeper. When I think of immigrants, I think of every single person who has come to this Nation. They have come in many different colors and in many different eras. Yes, Native Americans were already here. Yes, African Americans came as slaves. But then, as the years passed, there were people of African descent who came as immigrants. There were Irish and Italians, there were people from Britain and Germany, and there were people from South Asia, Asia, and Asia Pacific. And, of course, there are those who have now come from the southern border. Why do we have the right to be able to demonize individuals who have come in a recent time, individuals who simply want an opportunity to work, to contribute, and, yes, to put on the uniform? I am reminded of Captain Khan and his wonderful family. Captain Khan was a Pakistani who died in the recent war in Iraq. He came here to this country. His family came here to this country. So, I join with my colleague to say that we must pass comprehensive immigration reform, but we must pass the legislation that includes the American Dream and Promise Act. We must recognize that we have to confront the issue of dealing with the treatment of those who have come most recently. How do we deny it, when those of us who have been to the border, for example, literally talked to persons who have said they watched their father being beat to death and they watched as the MS-13, who are wanted in that country, come to make them a member? How are you going to challenge that? How do you challenge a woman who got on the road and had her baby on the road because people in the neighborhood said she owed them money and they were going to kill her? How do you answer an aunt who went to the store and came back and found all of her nieces and nephews drugged and individuals in the house and all they had to do was escape for their life? So, I believe that standing here today is recognizing that there must be a solution. Let me share with you just some of the comments from a hearing that we had on the oversight of family separation and CBP short-term custody under the Trump administration. In March 2017, former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly announced that DHS was considering a proposal to separate families at the southern border as a means of deterring migration. And that is what they did. Today, it was indicated that they had not reunited every one of those children that had been separated. Who of us in America would welcome the idea of children being snatched from you? You wanted that child. This wasn't a situation of abuse. And then you come to find out they could not find you or find your child to reunite. In a September 2018 report, the DHS Inspector General found that DHS was not fully prepared to implement the administration's zero-tolerance policy or to deal with some of its aftereffects. Can you imagine that? They just didn't have the facilities to deal with this very detrimental policy. What about asylum? That is international law. That is a law that allows individuals fleeing persecution to come to any country and seek asylum under their laws. Under our law, if you are in credible fear, you could seek asylum. Those administrations that were reasonable recognized that domestic violence could be taken into consideration. But let us realize where we are: The Trump administration eliminated domestic violence right out and then wanted to eliminate the rights of those individuals to file for asylum. Just recently, a lawsuit said, no, Mr. President, you cannot do that. You cannot do that and deny the rights under international law and national law for these individuals to be able to use the process that has been granted to so many before them. And then, of course, this report from the Office of Inspector General that--in actuality, a report was made public on July 2, though it was given to the Department of Homeland Security much earlier than that, but I think this was a report on the CBP and BP facilities at the border. Let me recognize, of course, the need to provide resources. We voted on a $4.6 billion appropriations at the beginning of July to be able to help and to provide better resources. But one of the things that was said to the Secretary of Homeland Security: ``DHS needs to address dangerous overcrowding among single adults at El Paso Del Norte processing center.'' And: ``DHS needs to address dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults in the Rio Grande Valley.'' This is not Sheila Jackson Lee or Congressman Garcia, this is the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's report. We are, in fact, our brothers' and sisters' keeper. We are many colors as immigrants. Africans are coming across the border, fleeing for their lives, seeking relief. All we have to do is to follow our laws to allow the asylum process to proceed and those individuals to be rendered a judgment that they can stay or not stay. And then to use our refugee resettlement and our humanitarian agencies to either help settle them in the United States or resettle them as they go back out of the United States. There's also the possibility of having an agreement that after their asylum has failed, if it does, that they can remain with opportunities in Mexico, which was originally spoken about. But since I have been to the place in Mexico where the policies of the President are to keep them in Mexico, I can tell you that Mexico at the border does not have the resources, does not have the housing, and does not have the jobs to take care of those individuals who are there. {time} 1915 Madam Speaker, I want to make it very clear, as I started out, my fellow Americans, on this floor, this particular Democratic Congress in the majority has recognized the importance of Americans. We have passed legislation to bring down prescription drugs costs, to protect against eliminating preexisting conditions, and to bring down insurance costs. We just passed the historic [[Page H7451]] $15-an-hour wage increase as Federal law. We are working on gun safety. We are working on issues dealing with Americans. But we must call our higher angels and recognize the responsibility of this Nation to address the concerns of its people. So, as I conclude my remarks, let me say that I hope that we will be able to work together on the 9,000 children who are held by the Department of Health and Human Services in what we call shelters, and to realize or to state--let me state it publicly to Health and Human Services, whom I worked with on the Obama administration--that these shelters do not belong to Health and Human Services. They belong to the people of the United States, funded with taxpayer dollars, and that means the Members of the United States Congress. No Member of Congress should be blocked from going into these facilities. No Member of Congress should be blocked from talking to these young people who want to talk to them and tell them that they have been in these centers for 3 months, 100 days. They are not supposed to be there that long. There needs to be a system put in place to expedite these youngsters. One youngster wants to go back home to Mexico. He is still there. So I want to put Health and Human Services on notice not to block any of us from coming in, facilitating how we are to interact with these young people, to provide them comfort and understanding of how we can move their cases along--not pull them out, not break the law, not disrespect the system, but to help the system, overloaded, choked down, not concerned, to move forward on behalf of these young people. I thank Congressman Garcia for giving me the opportunity to share some of my thoughts about how we have to fix the broken immigration system, which includes recognizing that many people who are here working, paying taxes, paying a mortgage, have come here through no fault of their own, and, as well, their families, who are here seeking opportunity. I believe that, together, in a bipartisan manner, we could really do this, as we have done for immigrants who have come to this country in the 1800s and the 1900s, and they have now integrated into our society. Let me thank the gentleman so much for his leadership on this. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Jackson Lee for her words. To close this evening, I want to call our attention again to what we are seeking to do in this Special Order hour, which is to again highlight and shed a spotlight on the administration's assault on immigration and asylum seekers that is taking place. I do it seeking to express the sentiment, the concerns, and the aspirations of, especially, immigrant groups in my district whom I represent. And who are they? They are people who have come from Asia, who have come from Germany, who have come from Ireland, who have come from Eastern Europe, who have come from Africa and the Caribbean, as well as Latin America, and even other countries. It is my hope that, as the House of Representatives begins its summer recess, this Congress and the White House will reflect on the Nation's great history of welcoming people who are fleeing oppression and, as Congresswoman Jackson Lee noted, that we allow our better angels to impact, to inspire, and to move us. As we continue our path, striving to become a more perfect Union, there isn't a better way forward than by embracing those who are fleeing persecution, those who are fleeing violence, and those who are fleeing terrible conditions in the countries that they were born in. I want to thank the Congressional Progressive Caucus for its assistance in arranging for this Special Order hour. I want to thank those who have joined me tonight to share their stories. Madam Speaker, we can and we must do better. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________
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