[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5142-H5150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TEARING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the subject matter of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address this body on a very
important issue that we need to bring to the attention of the people of
this country.
I am proud to have so many of my colleagues here today to stand up
against the President's policy of systematically tearing immigrant
children away from their families. These innocent children are being
held under inhumane conditions at detention facilities, alone and apart
from their parents.
President Trump's chief of staff, General Kelly, recently, when asked
about this, said:
The children will be taken care of, put into foster care,
or whatever.
This is an unacceptable answer.
The administration is tearing children away from their parents,
including infants and toddlers, and in some cases, holding these
children in cages.
The United Nations has noted that children arriving at the U.S.
border who plead for asylum with their parents is a legal form of
entry, and separating children away from their parents is illegal and a
violation of human rights.
These immoral practices are being executed by the Department of
Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, to instill fear and
deter families, who are already fleeing extreme fear and violence in
their native homes. They are trying to, again, deter them from seeking
legal protection in America.
For example, from October 2017 to April 2018, 700 children were
separated. But in just the first 13 days of May of this year, 2018, 658
children were separated, which almost equals the previous 6 months.
Children are literally being ripped from their mothers' arms, who are
simply seeking safety for their families. And immorally, the
administration is breaking up families, plain and simple. Asylum
seekers should not be held hostage and penalized for wanting to be
protected from harm.
This new policy is clearly unprecedented, cruel, and altogether dead
wrong. It is imperative that we stand up against the administration's
un-American policies towards families.
Today, my colleagues and I are standing up against this barbaric
action and demand the administration stop punishing children and stop
punishing families who are fearing for their lives.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Lofgren), my good friend and distinguished colleague.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Correa for yielding, and I
thank him for organizing this Special Order.
It is a part of immigration law--it is not a violation of immigration
law, it is a part of immigration law--that people fleeing for their
lives can come to the United States and apply for asylum. Not only is
that in our statutes, but it is also in a treaty that we ratified.
People concerned about the rule of law ought to realize this is part of
our law.
Here is what is happening. People fleeing for their lives, primarily
from Central America, are going to the ports of entry. In some cases,
we have received reports that they make their claim and their children
are taken away from them, I believe in violation of law.
In other cases, even though they are there to make an application,
they are turned away by Border Patrol. They then go down the road and
find a Border Patrol agent to turn themselves in to, to make their
claim for political asylum. And when that happens, their children are
then taken away from them.
Mr. Speaker, there is a report today from the Department of Health
and Human Services, which says that since this policy was adopted by
the Trump administration, 1,329 kids have been taken from their parents
in this cruel policy. I think that this is not the American way.
[[Page H5143]]
Mr. Speaker, I saw a report from CNN today. Here is what it says:
``The undocumented immigrant from Honduras sobbed as she told an
attorney Tuesday how Federal authorities took her daughter while she
breastfed the child in a detention center . . . when the woman
resisted, she was handcuffed. . . .''
The Catholic church has spoken out again today from CNN, and this is
what Cardinal DiNardo said:
Families are the foundational element of our society and
they must be able to stay together. While protecting our
borders is important, we can and must do better as a
government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure
that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the
answer and is immoral.
We are here today to say: America, we need to take a stand. The
President and his administration has decided to terrorize children in
an effort to deter people from availing themselves of the opportunity
provided for under immigration law. That is simply wrong.
America, now is the time to be heard.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
California for those remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa), my
good friend and distinguished colleague.
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues this afternoon on what is, I
think, a very important issue facing our country today, and that is
remembering what our common shared values are all about: a Nation of
immigrants, past and present.
Mr. Speaker, I am deeply disturbed, as is my colleague, Congressman
Correa, and others that are here, by the administration's current
policy, which we believe tears families apart who are seeking asylum at
our borders. That is simply not the American way. These are parents and
children fleeing to America, coming here via legal means, seeking
refuge for a host of different reasons.
And what happens to them now?
Children, including infants and toddlers, are taken from their
parents' care, and sent to shelters, which we now know are sometimes
juvenile detention centers. That is not right. That is not the American
way. The parents are sent to detention facilities as well, which may be
in the form of Federal prisons.
At America's borders, this is happening to families; families who,
again, are legally seeking asylum. We have had a whole history and
tradition of allowing families who are seeking legal asylum.
And what are they fleeing?
Well, we know what they are fleeing: domestic violence, rape, murder,
and gang violence.
If that is not traumatizing enough, now we are talking about
separating them and detaining them, and we are not even beginning to
consider the sort of natural disasters that have afflicted neighbors of
ours.
This is an outrageous policy. I think it is morally disgusting and
un-American. We are not a nation in terms of our shared values that
tears families apart. We never have been. The American family is the
foundation of our country. We are not a nation that systematically uses
fear and the threat of detention to scare immigrants from trying to
legally enter this country and build a better life for themselves and
their families for what they might be fleeing.
Yes, no one disputes that we need to secure our borders. We must
ensure the safety of our Nation. That is our highest priority. We must
prevent those who want to do harm to us from entering, whether we are
talking about transnational gangs who are engaged in drug trafficking,
or in sex trafficking, or in other illegal activities that devastate
our communities. We all agree on that.
I have consistently voted for improved border security funding and
policies. But ripping these families apart like this is not securing
our borders.
For over a decade, I have been calling for comprehensive immigration
reform that includes border security that fixes our broken immigration
system, and does it in a way that is fair, just, and works. We had such
a proposal in 2013 that the Senate passed 68-32. Sadly, we could not
bring it up. It was a bipartisan measure.
If we had a strong and comprehensive functioning immigration system,
there would be no chance for these disgusting policies to occur, as
they are now today.
In closing, I stand here today calling on Congress to move on
immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform, that is
bipartisan. Let's put an end to these immoral, cruel, and un-American
policies. If we can't do that, then let's just try to bring a clean
Dream Act to the floor. I guess we will see what comes next week, in
terms of what is being proposed.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here today for families who are being ripped
apart at the borders, for immigrants past and immigrants present, for
let us never forget America is a Nation for over 240 years that has
been made up of immigrants from all around the world. For the future,
and the soul of our country, I ask that we come together and fix this
broken immigration system.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from
California for his comments.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore),
my distinguished colleague.
Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out that the United Nations has
called this heartless act of separating children from their parents as
``unlawful . . . and a serious violation of the rights of the child.''
The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that such separation can
cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child's development and affecting
his or her health.
I just want to say that many of my colleagues today have indicated
that this is not who we are.
{time} 1745
They have asked what I think is a rhetorical question, Mr. Correa.
They have asked: Who are we?
Well, I can tell you who we are through the agency of our head of
state. We are people who have embraced the President of the Philippines
who kills people who are accused of drug trafficking. Through the
agency of our head of state, we are people who have embraced cruel
dictators like Vladimir Putin who invaded a country. Through the agency
of our head of state, we have asked to readmit Putin into the G7,
making it the G8. Through the agency of our head of state, we have
declared that Kim Jong-un is to be admired, that he is smart, that he
is a good negotiator.
Who we are, are people who are silent. We are quiet. So why are we
asking ourselves who we are? This is who we are, and this is our watch,
and the world is watching us. They are watching us be silent and say
nothing.
Who are we? We are people who have determined that Canada is an enemy
of the state. We are people who are standing by while our Government,
the United States of America, is violating international human rights
law. That is who we are.
Until we face the reality of who we are, we can't fix this. I could
not have, 2 years ago, ever predicted that the United States would
behave in this manner.
This is a horrific practice.
The demand is for all Americans to rise up against this, and
especially those Americans who have been endowed with the privilege of
representing the peoples of the United States of America, especially
those people who are in leadership in this body.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
Wisconsin, and I completely agree with her. We cannot be silent in
these very challenging times. The whole world is upside down, and
people are counting on us to make sure that we remind people of what is
going on in Washington.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez), my
good friend and distinguished colleague.
Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind the
American people of the quick phrase that was recently used by the
current administration: ``It's not our fault.''
It is not our fault. Really? That is that sentiment of our U.S.
Attorney General who deflected the responsibility for a zero-tolerance
policy that allows the separation of children from their parents.
[[Page H5144]]
In the month of May, this evil new policy led to the separation of
more than 600 children in a short 13-day span.
Have we lost all our human decency? We are a Nation of laws. How can
you explain family separation when it comes to asylum seekers? They
have not crossed the border illegally, and yet they are being detained
and their families separated as if they were here illegally.
This is a clear attack on immigrants who have exhausted every last
resource to seek refuge in the Nation that once welcomed the tired, the
poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Have we forgotten the words spoken by Mark 12:31 to love thy neighbor
as thyself? Is our new message to blame others and not take
responsibility?
I think it is important to consider the possible logistical
challenges before implementing such policies. Perhaps instead of
calling for zero tolerance first, you put prosecutors in place and
facilities to house folks in a humane manner. Instead, we asked the
U.S. Department of Justice to lend us their lawyers and to rent out
vacant Walmart stores.
I have no illusions about what the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security and Health and Human Services are hiding behind those
curtains.
We have to remember that these immigrant families are not committing
dangerous crimes. Asylum seekers are not criminals and are not here
illegally.
I represent an area along the border where crime is at record lows,
yet the administration keeps saying the opposite. I believe our local
officers and local courts and local judges and prosecutors in both
State and Federal courts in my region. I believe them when they tell me
what the crime rate is, what is happening in our communities.
Right now, the only increased criminal activity I see is the
egregious method of ripping families apart and herding immigrant
children into a broken system.
This is not the America the world knows and loves. This is a shameful
period in our history, and we in this body have the responsibility to
correct it.
Mr. Speaker, if any of these frightened, innocent children ask a
Member of this House why they are being separated from their families,
we cannot merely say: It is not our fault.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from
Texas, and I have to say, when we talk about ``it's not our fault,''
let's remember Central American violence, gang violence, drugs, gangs.
What fuels it? Our insatiable appetite in the United States for drugs.
Our dollars that go into Central America, this is what fuels the
violence.
These children, these families, when they come of age, MS-13, whom
the President talks about very often, tells these families: ``Either
your children join the gang or they die.'' These parents make a third
choice, which is to flee, to escape violence, and to seek asylum in
America.
It is not our fault? Those are our dollars that are fueling that
violence.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters),
my good friend and distinguished colleague.
Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Correa for his leadership in
putting together this Special Order.
I know this shocks us all, what is happening at the border, because
in our country, family is an institution. It shapes every aspect of our
lives.
If you just listen to Ronald Reagan, who painted a wonderful picture
of what family means in America, he said: ``The family has always been
the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve,
and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we share and
cherish, values that are the foundation of our freedoms.''
That is Ronald Reagan talking about the family as an American
institution.
Today, family, that concept, is being torn apart and challenged at
our own borders. Screaming children are being ripped from their
parents' arms. These parents are fleeing government violence, domestic
violence, religious persecution. They follow generations of people who
came to America seeking a better life. Remember that America was
founded by people fleeing religious persecution in Europe.
We know the story all too well about what is happening at the border
in San Diego where, last week, Dana Sabraw, a Federal judge appointed
by George W. Bush, refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging family
separation. The lawsuit involved a Congolese woman and her 7-year-old
daughter who were separated at the San Ysidro border crossing after
applying for asylum.
As The New York Times described, the girl ``was taken away `screaming
and crying, pleading with guards not to take her from her mother,'''
and then she was sent to Chicago, thousands of miles away. They didn't
see each other for 4 months.
This is common practice. After children are taken from their parents,
many parents don't have any idea where they went, who is taking care of
them, or how to reach them.
Now, this mother and her child were reunited, but only after a legal
challenge and a DNA test.
This mother was looking for the life all parents try to provide their
children: one of security and comfort, one of hope, one of opportunity.
We don't know the exact number of children who have been separated
from their parents, but we do know that just one is unacceptable when
their parents were just trying to give them a better life.
It is also potentially unconstitutional, because I know people in
this Chamber still care about that.
In his opinion, Judge Sabraw said that family separation
``arbitrarily tears at the sacred bond between parent and child. Such
conduct . . . is brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with
traditional notions of fair play and decency.''
He also reiterated these same constitutional rights are guaranteed to
the noncitizens who come to our borders and ask us for asylum.
The American Psychological Association called on the Trump
administration to stop this cruel practice, citing increased anxiety,
depression, psychological distress, and developmental disruptions in
children who are separated from their parents.
But as parents, we don't need the American Psychological Association
to tell us that. Imagine it is you and your children. Imagine how you
would feel if you were trying to take care of your kids and had one
torn away from you.
We had one account of a woman nursing her baby. The baby girl was
ripped from her arms while she was breast feeding at a detention
center.
How many children will have to suffer before we have to say, ``No
more''?
Thankfully, we can do something here. We will not admit every family
who comes and asks for our protection. We understand they don't all met
the criteria for asylum. But while they wait for a decision on their
application, we can treat these families with respect and dignity that
demonstrates American values to the rest of the world.
Tearing families apart as an immigration deterrent is repulsive, and
it is not us.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Correa, for his leadership and
for holding this conversation on this important topic.
It shocks the conscience. I hear all the time from my constituents
who are horrified by this. We need to stop this. We will continue to
come back and speak up if we have to, but this needs to end.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Correa once again for holding this hour.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Peters), and I also want to thank him
for citing President Reagan's name in his comments, President Reagan
from the good State of California, my home.
Governor Reagan of the State of California, he understood family; he
protected families; and President Reagan passed immigration reform in
the United States. Thank you, President Reagan.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn
B. Maloney), my good friend and distinguished colleague.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the
gentleman for yielding and for his leadership, and for organizing this
and for reminding us of the leadership that the Republican Party took
under President Reagan for comprehensive immigration reform, which we
have all been calling for for years.
[[Page H5145]]
Today, I rise because I believe our country is in a moment of crisis.
This administration is turning its back on our ideals, our values, and
our history as a safe harbor and beacon of light for the world's
oppressed and threatened peoples.
President Trump's heartless policy of ripping apart families who are
coming to the United States seeking freedom from fear, from violence,
is cruel, inhumane, and blatantly un-American.
These families have traveled hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to
keep their children safe and away from the harm that awaits them at
home. No one takes that journey lightly. No one leaves behind the only
home they have known, their friends, their extended family, if they
have any other choice.
Yet, instead of accepting these refugees with compassion, this
administration is persecuting and prosecuting those fleeing danger,
taking babies from their mothers' and fathers' arms, causing great
trauma.
There is absolutely no justification for this policy. It is cruelty
for cruelty's sake. This is not who we are as a Nation.
It is why I have joined Ranking Member Cummings to demand an
Oversight and Government Reform hearing on this reckless policy, and
why I have signed on to a resolution condemning this horrific behavior
as the child abuse that it is, and why I am joining the Women's Caucus
next week at a shadow hearing, because we have requested a hearing from
the Republican majority, and they have not granted it, so we are having
our own hearing to explore this issue more.
The administration needs to immediately change course, and every
Member of Congress must hold it accountable for doing so.
These children, these families, and this country deserve so much
better.
Mr. Speaker, I again thank my good friend, Representative Correa, for
hosting this Special Order, for his leadership, and for allowing me to
participate in this Special Order this evening.
{time} 1800
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
New York for her comments.
I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), my good
friend and distinguished colleague.
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, America has a long and wonderful
tradition of welcoming people from all over the world who are fleeing
violence and famine and war and repression. It is, in fact, one of the
founding values of our country, and the words on the Statue of Liberty
remind us of that:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
What we are here tonight to do, Mr. Speaker, is to raise our voices
and be sure the American people understand what is underway in our
country.
The Trump administration has put forth a program they call zero
tolerance. And just to explain what this means, people who are fleeing
gang violence, persecution, incredible deprivation, domestic violence,
travel a long distance, come to America for the hope of being safe.
We have laws in this country that say if, in fact, you are
legitimately fleeing violence or persecution and you can demonstrate
that, you are eligible for something called asylum. It is an
international requirement. It is in our law. This is a lawful process.
They come to America, to the golden door. And what is happening now
in this country, parents are being ripped from their children,
separated, mothers hearing their children in another room crying out
their names, pleading for their mothers, and there is nothing they can
do because they are being detained.
Is this who we are?
This is not what we expect of the greatest democracy in the world. It
is not only against the law, it is not only in violation of
international obligations, imagine, the United States is being
condemned by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees and Human
Rights because of this conduct.
It has been described as torture of children, torture being defined
as an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or
mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as
punishing him or her for an act he or she or a third person has
committed. This is torture on kids, to rip them from their parents.
And we, today, in the Judiciary Committee pleaded with the chairman:
Bring this matter before the Judiciary. We have oversight
responsibility for this process. We have a right to know what is going
on.
But we had a hearing today on a Texas water district issue, a permit
issue, but we couldn't find time to bring the officials responsible for
this before our committee.
This is a practice which does violence to children, which is tearing
families apart, and for which there is no legal justification. And we
have pleaded with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Raise
your voices. The world is watching America in this moment, and we are
undermining our standing in the world, the values that we promote
around the world, and we are particularly doing tremendous damage to
these children and families that are being separated.
We have asylum laws for a reason. Those have been enacted by the
Congress of the United States, and they should be respected by these
officials in the Department of Homeland Security and ICE and by the
Attorney General of the United States.
It is hard to describe the heartache and the pain and the suffering
that this illegal, unconstitutional, despicable policy is causing; and
our colleagues, my friends on the other side of the aisle, have not so
much as raised a peep. They are responsible in their silence for the
continuation of this program.
We will continue to raise our voices to do everything that we can to
bring the attention of the American people to this travesty because,
only by the American people contacting their Members of Congress,
demanding that this policy change, speaking out against this horrific
brutality that is occurring in detention facilities all across this
country--this does not reflect the values of our country. It does not
reflect our shared values of respecting the human dignity of every
person, of this special place that children have and the special
responsibility that we have for children.
We have a responsibility to do something about it, to stop this, to
bring the Attorney General before the Congress of the United States, to
hold him accountable for this horrific behavior and, once again,
demonstrate to the world that we are a country that lifts people up,
that respects human rights, that honors children, and that demonstrates
a commitment to family values. This zero tolerance policy does violence
to all of that.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for giving me an opportunity to be
heard.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
O'Rourke), my good friend and distinguished colleague.
Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, on Monday of this week, I was in McAllen,
Texas, a beautiful community comprised of some incredibly courageous,
strong, kindhearted people in the Rio Grande Valley in the State of
Texas, connected by the Rio Grande River to Reynosa, Mexico, forming
one of these extraordinary binational communities that distinguish our
connection with Mexico with the State of Texas for the United States of
America.
I was able to visit the Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas,
which is the busiest Border Patrol station in the country. I happened
to be there during the busiest shift during that day in that busy
station, and I was able to spend some time with the amazing women and
men of the Border Patrol, who have one of the toughest jobs that I can
imagine: keeping our country safe, protecting our communities and the
families within our communities, and meeting those who are at their
most desperate, most vulnerable moment in their lives, people who have
fled terror and violence, death and deprivation in their countries to
come to ours, to seek asylum, to seek safety, to seek refuge.
In that Border Patrol station I had the ability to meet a family, a
young mother and her young child, who had fled Honduras and had
traveled more
[[Page H5146]]
than 2,000 miles to come to this country. And because they presented
themselves to Border Patrol agents, didn't try to flee from them, went
to those Border Patrol agents seeking asylum in between the ports of
entry and didn't do it at the international bridge, didn't do it at the
port of entry, that young mother and her child were arrested. They were
being held in that cell comprised of cinder blocks, sitting on a hard
concrete bench with a number of other mothers and young children, had
just been arrested within the last 24 hours and were about to go to the
Border Patrol Processing Center. Through tears, that young mother was
able to tell me about her journey.
When I asked her why she didn't choose to cross at the port of entry,
where she could have lawfully petitioned for asylum, she said: ``I was
scared.'' She didn't know where to cross.
And, frankly, those crossing areas in Reynosa on the Mexican side of
the U.S.-Mexico border are controlled by the cartels. The cartels
determined where she and her 7-year-old daughter were going to cross.
Not lost on me was the fact that her daughter was gripping her
mother's hand for dear life, as I imagine she had been for the last 3
weeks when they made that 2,000-mile journey, where, if they were
lucky, they made it on foot.
They also made it atop, not inside of, a train, known as La Bestia,
or the Beast, and where they were fortunate enough to survive that
journey and come to our front door of the United States at the Texas-
Mexico border, and where she was arrested and, unbeknownst to her and
to that little girl who was clutching her hand, they would, within
hours, be separated and might not know when they would be joined again,
if ever.
One hundred percent of the young women and men who travel with those
young children in between our ports of entry are arrested, are
detained, imprisoned, jailed in those Border Patrol stations, where
they next go to the next place that I went to in McAllen, which was the
Border Patrol processing center, a gigantic warehouse, where I saw the
children who had just been separated from their moms and dads behind
cyclone fencing, sleeping on polished concrete floors with a mattress 5
or 6 inches thick directly on the ground, Mylar blankets keeping them
warm, again, with Border Patrol agents who were as humane and
professional as possible, given the circumstances and the conditions.
Men separated in other holding pods, women behind cyclone fences in
other holding pods. There was another cyclone-fenced area open for
public view where you went to the bathroom and where we had to be able
to see your head or your feet. Those are the processes and procedures
and the laws under which those people are being held.
After that, I went to the international bridge at Reynosa and, on the
Mexican side, was able to talk to three different people who were
seeking asylum. Two of them had made the trip from Guatemala. When they
got to Reynosa, they were kidnapped by cartels, held for 12 days,
without clothes, without access to the outside world, with the
exception of being able to make calls to family members who could cough
up the $7,500 that would purchase their freedom, allow them to leave
captivity and make their way to the international bridge, literally 10
feet away from the international line and the United States of America,
where, if they could step foot on our soil, they would be able to
lawfully petition for asylum.
But standing there were four officers of Customs and Border
Protection who would not let them pass, who told them we do not have
capacity within our country and, therefore, they could not lawfully
petition for asylum, therefore, perversely providing the incentive for
them to try to cross in between the ports of entry illegally, where
they will be arrested, criminally prosecuted, and sent back to
countries from which they are fleeing certain death.
After that, I went to a detention center run by a private prison
corporation, where I met a man who had left his home country with his
12-year-old daughter, whom he has not seen for the last 5 days. And in
between 4-inch-thick Plexiglass, behind which I could barely hear what
he was saying, he told me about the horrific journey that he had
endured.
He took off his shirt and showed me the bullet wounds that he had
suffered that had caused him to make the desperate decision to leave
his family, his home country, his language, whatever he knew in life,
and take that 12-year-old girl and try to bring her to safety.
Again, just as with that mother, he was arrested. He now was in
criminal proceedings. He would now be moved to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement's Enforcement Removal Operations, ERO facility, where he
would be sent back to his country of origin; and he had no clue where
that 12-year-old girl that he had risked everything for was at that
moment.
Thank God for Rochelle Garza, his pro bono attorney, next to whom I
was sitting, who was doing everything in her power to provide him the
strength, reminding him to keep his faith and saying that she was going
to do everything in her effort, in her power to track down that 12-
year-old girl.
Mr. Speaker, who are we to be doing this right now?
I know that every single one of us, to a person, if we were standing
here in this Chamber in 1939 when this country was sending back the St.
Louis, which had set sail on May 13, 1939, from Hamburg, Germany, with
more than 900 German Jewish refugees, including children, that all of
us, to a person, would like to say, if I were here, I would have made
the case to accept the St. Louis and those 900 passengers and make sure
that they could find refuge and asylum in this country. Instead, this
country chose not to, and we sent that ship back to Europe, where more
than 250 of those 900 passengers would be slaughtered in the Holocaust.
This is our opportunity to do the right thing. We will be judged by
our conscience, by our children, and by history. This is our moment of
truth.
So I join my friend from California, with every Member in this
Chamber, Republican and Democrat, in calling upon ourselves, our
country, to do the right thing at the moment that we still have the
chance to do the right thing.
Tomorrow, legislation will be introduced to end the practice of
family separation. As an original cosponsor of this bill, I am calling
on my colleagues to rush the decision, the debate, and to pass this
overwhelmingly so that we can send it to the Senate and, ultimately, to
the President's desk for his signature and do the right thing while we
still have the chance to do that.
{time} 1815
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for his
comments, and I think he is absolutely correct. History is going to
judge us, and we are going to look back years from now and say: What
did we do?
We have to make sure we are not silent in this very special moment in
our history. I thank the gentleman for coming.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith), my
good friend.
Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to
speak on this very important issue. I just want to echo the comments of
my colleagues about the basic inhumanity the policy the Trump
administration is perpetrating on these people who are trying to cross
the border in order to seek asylum, in order to flee violence and
absolutely unlivable conditions in a variety of countries in Latin
America.
To have a policy of separating them from their children is inhumane
and goes against every basic value that we, as Americans, hold dear.
The terrible thing about it is, if you listen to the Trump
administration, that seems to be the idea. Their notion is to make it
as painful as possible, to discourage these people from wanting to seek
refuge in the United States.
Think about how that policy just flips on its head everything that we
were raised to believe about America. One of the things that makes
America great is we are made up of people from all over the world, in
many cases, those who have fled horrific living conditions, to come
here and build a better life for them and their families. That has made
us all better. Our country is stronger because we are renewed every
generation by a new set of immigrants from a variety of places across
the world.
The Trump administration is the first administration in the history
of
[[Page H5147]]
this country to be openly, 100 percent hostile to all immigrants. They
are trying to make the policy as brutal as possible, because they don't
understand the benefit of immigration. They seem to think that it is
hurting us when it is not.
So they are wrong on that policy and it is a very simple policy to
fix. In fact, it is interesting. We have heard the President on a
couple of occasions in the last month say: Oh, not my policy. It is
because of some law that Congress passed.
It is possible that he is that ignorant. I doubt it. I actually think
that he is simply not telling the truth to the American people about a
policy that his own Attorney General has stated clearly.
So President Trump, if you are as appalled as you said you were on a
couple of occasions by this policy, you are the President. Fix it.
Change it. Stop it.
In my district at a Federal penitentiary in SeaTac that is supposed
to be for the most dangerous criminals that have committed Federal
crimes in the country, there are housed well over 150 women right now,
many of whom have been separated from their children when they crossed
the border.
There is a simple fix to this process. As previous speakers,
including Mr. O'Rourke, have said, we have an asylum process in this
country. There is a standard by which people can seek asylum and it can
be granted or not. We should allow these people coming across this
border to go through that asylum process.
This notion that we don't have room is patently ridiculous. Even at
this point, we have all kinds of jobs going on unfilled in this
country. But beyond that, our basic humanity should say: these people
are suffering. We have a law that says we should protect them. Follow
that law.
And also, in terms housing them, there are more people than I can
count, more nonprofit organizations, more religious organizations,
volunteer organizations, who have said: We will gladly take in these
immigrants while they await their asylum here.
There is a very simple solution to this. We don't have to put them in
the horrible barracks that Mr. O'Rourke described a few minutes ago.
There are people who will take them, keep them while they go through
the process. It is very simple.
Stop the policy of separating children from their mothers and
fathers. It is wrong. It is inhumane. It is grossly unnecessary. They
come across the border. We have got a process. Keep them with their
families. Take advantage of the resources that are available out there
in the private sector to find them a place to stay with their families
together, and go through the asylum process.
Now, I understand the asylum process. Not everybody is going to
qualify for asylum, and it is possible that some of these people are
going to have to be sent back to their home country. But at a minimum,
we can make sure that when they stay here, they stay together as a
family, and if they are allowed to stay, they stay together as a
family. If they don't get granted asylum, then they go back as a
family.
To separate families--and I want to emphasize this last point before
I finish--when you listen to the Attorney General, when you listen to
the administration, they are doing this because it is cruel, because
they are so opposed to immigration that they want to try to discourage
people. And that is just a sad commentary on what the United States has
become under this President. We should do the humane thing.
Keep families together. Give them their day in court, their day to
prove that they qualify for asylum, and then you can make the decision
from there. But don't rip children out of the hands of families. It is
something that the United States of America should never do.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from California, Mr. Correa, for
holding this hour, and I thank him for giving me the opportunity to say
a few words.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, Mr. Adam Smith, very
much for coming over and sharing his thoughts. It is very important.
Again, we cannot forget.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee),
my good friend and distinguished colleague from the good State of Texas
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Correa from the great State
of California for taking the time to really allow those of us who are
in pain to express that pain. I know that my colleagues, each one of
them--as we say sometimes in our religious institutions--have come in
their own way.
I come in a series of ways. One, as a years-long member of the
Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary
Committee. Being present when we designed a policy for unaccompanied
children to be protected and to get to their rightful guardian and not
go into the hands of sex traffickers. That was, in fact, a stated
policy of the United States for unaccompanied children.
And in many ways it happens. In the last 4 or 5 years I was at the
border when the surge of unaccompanied children came because of the
violence, particularly in Central America. These children came. We knew
they were coming, and we had standup facilities run by nuns and other
religious organizations to take unaccompanied children until a
legitimate legal guardian in the United States could be documented, or
some other legitimate family documented.
When I say, documented, documented that they were able to take the
child and that they were legal to the extent that they were not human
traffickers.
That is what policies we had. There is no policy. There is no
regulation. There is no statute. There is no law. There is no law that
is allowing the personnel at the border, customs--particularly Border
Patrol--to snatch, rip, and tear children away from their family. And
if the distinguished gentleman from California would allow me, I want
this to be a call to action because there is a legal process or
legislative process.
As my previous colleagues have said, many of us are introducing
legislation. This past weekend I stood with Guatemalan citizens, people
of Guatemalan descent, and we know for fact that 1 million people have
been displaced in Guatemala because of the volcano. And I just have to
say, they will be fleeing, many of them.
We also know that people have come because they have suffered
unbelievable, unspeakable gang violence: the decapitating of heads, the
murder of children. One mother saw two sons murdered and she took the
last child, boy child, to try to find refuge.
There are stories like this all over. And so what is happening at the
border is a nonpolicy that is done only for the vileness of punishment.
We will punish these people and they will not come anymore.
As we are on the brink of Father's Day. For those who read the
Scriptures, they know the story of Moses. Sometimes a parent is so
desperate that they will either escape with that child or they will
send that child on. And America has always been a place that has found
a regular order to deal with this crisis. That is not what is
happening, and the American people need to understand.
The courts are overloaded. There are not enough immigration judges.
There are not enough lawyers. They are taking into court 50 and 70
people at a time. There are some people who are not speaking Spanish.
They are speaking an indigenous language, and they do not understand at
all, except they have come with the right that they have--and the legal
term is ``credible fear''--they have come to seek asylum.
And we have for long precedent allowed those who have experienced
domestic violence--the stories are horrific--or those who have been the
victim of gangs to come, and that is not happening now.
So I just want to hold up these pictures that show the anguish of
parents who could be like any one of us. The anguish of the father, Mr.
Rodas, whose 5-year-old was snatched from him; the anguish of parents
who desire to do nothing but to help their child or themselves and
these children are being snatched away. It is not any immigration
policy, but a policy to scare, to punish, to frighten, to undermine,
and to do a vileness.
Not because America is not good. We are. But it is important that we
act upon that goodness and that we don't have these series of pictures
where when this mother turns her back, the child is snatched away.
So the call to action is to the vastness of our religious community,
the
[[Page H5148]]
vast television ministry, TBN, The Impact Network, The Word Network,
Hillsong Church, whatever ones you want to call. In this day of
worship, all of these leaders should stand and speak out in the loudest
voice against the unspeakable, nonkindness, ungodly act of snatching
children away from parents.
I will be going down to visit and to see a number of centers, and all
I ask is my Government to be what it is: a loving and nurturing place
of values and democracy, and a recognition that we are a Nation of
immigrants and a Nation of laws.
These people have come to seek asylum. That is a legal process. Some
may win it and some may not. But I would only say to you that who are
we, if we cannot, as a mass of Americans, cry out against this
administration. No matter how much of a cult we think this
administration has been called, there have to be some good people that
will recognize that our values, our flag rises above any person. And it
is important for us to save the lives of these children.
Mr. Correa, let me thank the gentleman so very much for yielding to
me.
Mr. Speaker, Congressman Correa is a valued member of this body and
one of the outstanding member of the Homeland Security Committee, where
he Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Management
Efficienty.
We are here today to call upon the President and the Congress of the
United States to act without delay regarding the ``zero-tolerance''
policy that separates families apprehended on the southern border by
U.S. Border Patrol.
As the member of the House Committees on Homeland Security and former
Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Maritime and
Border Security, I cannot think of a situation more devastating than
having the government forcibly separate a parent from her child to a
place unknown, for a fate uncertain, absent any form of communication.
Every day, hundreds of persons, ranging from infants and toddlers to
adolescents and adults, flee violence, oppression, and economic
desperation from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, seeking safe
harbor in the United States.
They are not criminals or terrorists, they are refugees seeking
asylum.
The American government must harness all available resources to aid
those enduring unimaginable suffering, which is why I have called upon
the President to extend Temporary Protected Status for those affected
by this volcano, including introducing broader legislation that makes
Guatemala eligible for TPS.
While they hope to receive asylum, none of us expected that they
would be treated as criminals or that their children would be forcibly
separated from them.
I cannot think of a situation more devastating than having the
government forcibly separate a parent from their child to a place
unknown, for a fate uncertain, absent any form of communication.
But shamefully that is exactly what is happening under this
administration.
Reports indicate that as many as 700 children have been taken from
adults claiming to be their parents since October 2017, including more
than 100 children under the age of 4.
This startling fact comes after Acting Assistant Secretary Steven
Wagner of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
testified before the Senate in April 2018 that during a review of more
than 7,600 unaccompanied immigrant children who had recently arrived
and been placed with a sponsor, officials at the agency were unable to
determine the precise whereabouts of 1,475 children.
This is unconscionable and unacceptable.
This administration's practice of separating children from their
parents inexplicably turns accompanied children into unaccompanied
children, with all of the attendant risks and dangers, including human
trafficking.
In 2014, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations reported that
``over a period of 4 months, HHS allegedly placed a number of UACs in
the hands of a ring of human traffickers who forced them to work on egg
farms in and around Marion, Ohio.
The minor victims were forced to work six or seven days a week,
twelve hours per day.
The traffickers repeatedly threatened the victims and their families
with physical harm, and even death, if they did not work or surrender
their entire paychecks.''
What is even more reprehensible is to this day, the Trump
administration maintains that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)
is not legally responsible for children after they are released from
ORR care. This line of thinking allows such gross negligence to take
place in the first place. As the Founder and Chair of the Congressional
Children's Caucus and as a parent and grandparent, this is
unacceptable.
Studies have documented that when young children are traumatically
removed from their parents, their physical and mental health and well-
being suffers.
The effects of these traumatic experiences--especially in children
who have already faced serious adversity--are unlikely to be short-
lived, and can likely last a lifetime.
This is exacerbated when the child in custody speaks a language that
is not English or Spanish.
Although the government has a legal obligation to provide reasonable
language services to unaccompanied minors, many children arriving to
the U.S. speak indigenous languages and have little or no translation
assistance provided by the U.S. government.
The Trump administration's ``zero-tolerance'' policy does not make
our nation safer or more secure, nor is it a solution to the problem of
illegal immigration and refugees seeking asylum. It is, however,
monstrously cruel, inhumane, and shameful and makes a mockery of
America's reputation as the most welcoming and generous nation on
earth.
United Nations Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani recently
condemned the Trump administration's treatment of unaccompanied minors
coming to the United States saying that ``the use of immigration
detention and family separation as a deterrent runs counter to human
rights standards and principles''.
The last time this nation had policies that promoted the forcible
separation of children from newly arrived persons was slavery: a dark
chapter in this nation's history that we should not revisit.
Today, the parents of these thousands of children will not be
deterred from finding ways to reunite with their children, even
reentering the United States under the threat of imprisonment.
It would be unconscionable to prosecute parents under these
circumstances. There must be strong and aggressive congressional
oversight of this administration's immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration's policy should cease and desist
immediately.
National Policy regarding immigration legislation should not create
greater fear for families already traumatized by intolerable conditions
in their home countries.
U.S. immigration policy should not deter refugees from seeking asylum
within our borders.
We should welcome mothers carrying their babies to a safe haven and
assure the safety of their children.
I will soon be introducing legislation prohibiting the separation of
children from their families absent a health or safety risk. The
legislation will also provide that these children the right to be
represented by counsel and that translation services be available at
all legal proceedings at all stages.
As we have seen with the recent volcanic activity and earthquakes in
Guatemala, the United States should be seeking ways to help its
neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere.
The American government must harness all available resources to aid
those enduring unimaginable suffering, which is why I have called upon
the President to extend Temporary Protected Status for those affected
by this volcano.
In the coming days, I will also be introducing broader legislation
that makes Guatemala eligible for TPS, so that those who fled this
horror, and other mainstays of the world--like a murder rate which is
among the highest in the country, and rampant gang violence--may have
hope to realize their American dream.''
The Trump administration is utterly failing in its basic duty to
treat all persons with dignity and compassion.
Rather, it is making a mockery of our national values and reputation
as a champion of human rights.
This crisis is not just an immigration matter, nor is it just a
foreign policy matter.
It is a humanitarian crisis, executed by an administration that
purports to be the champion of `family values' but whose actions do not
actually value families.
We are a great country with a long and noble tradition of providing
sanctuary to the persecuted and oppressed. And it is in that spirit
that we should act. We can do it; after all, we are Americans.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague Congresswoman Jackson
Lee, for her comments.
I agree with her. This is a call to action. At this moment in
history, we cannot be silent. At this moment in history, we cannot look
away. And in this moment of history, we cannot ignore what we know is
clearly going on around us. I thank the gentlewoman for her comments.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to Mr. Joaquin Castro, my good friend and
distinguished colleague from Texas.
Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Correa for
yielding.
[[Page H5149]]
I think as Americans learned, mostly over the last few weeks, that
young children were being separated from their mothers and fathers at
the U.S.-Mexico border, and now have heard that the Trump
administration is proposing to put these young children who have been
separated from their parents in tent camps on military bases in Texas
and in other places, it makes people wonder whether the Nation has lost
its moral compass under this administration.
Just because somebody crosses a border or presents themselves at a
border, does not make them nonhuman.
{time} 1830
The United States is a nation, if anything, that stands for and has
stood for freedom, for human rights, and for democracy.
How can we carry that mantle when we refuse to treat people like
human beings, especially young children?
This has become standard government policy under the Trump
administration. It is leaving lasting trauma--emotional, mental, and
physical trauma--to these young kids.
We should be able to enforce our immigration laws and still respect
people's humanity. So I have been encouraged to see so many Americans
speak up against this abhorrent policy. So many Americans from every
corner of this Nation, every city and every part, have spoken up
against this policy.
Because this Nation has stood as a moral beacon around the world, it
was quite remarkable recently when the United Nations, which the United
States hosts in New York City and for which the United States is the
largest funder, condemned our Nation for separating kids from their
families and their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. I ask us to think
about that and its significance.
If we can't stop these kinds of things from happening in the United
States, then I don't know that we can stop them from happening anywhere
in the world. This is not only a call to conscience, it is a call to
respect our Constitution, and it is a call that is not Republican or
Democrat or liberal or conservative but American. It is a call for
respect of human dignity.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Correa for organizing this
discussion today and for all of his work on this issue.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Castro
from the good State of Texas, for his comments.
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to address this most
important issue of asylum and this most important issue of children
seeking asylum in this great country of ours.
We have to remember who this country is. We have to remember who we
are as a people. We are all immigrants in this country. Except if you
are native-born, Native American, you are not. But 99.9 percent of us
were all immigrants. We all came to this country, our forefathers came
to this country seeking a better life, seeking better opportunities,
and seeking to run away from tyranny that was provided to them by other
countries.
Today, I hope that the people who are watching and the people who are
listening understand what is at stake today. We cannot look away. We
cannot ignore what is going on.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and
fellow member on the House Committee on Homeland Security, Congressman
Lou Correa, for leading tonight's special order regarding the need to
protect immigrant children and families from the cruel and punitive
policies adopted by the Trump Administration.
Over the past several months, the Trump Administration has engaged in
the barbaric activity of separating migrant children from their parents
to instill fear and deter families from seeking legal protection in the
United States. These families are fleeing dangerous and violent
situations in their home countries--seeking safety in the United
States--only to have their children taken away from them. In many
situations, the parents are not told where their children are or when
they will be reunited.
We have laws in place so that people fleeing dangerous situations can
request protection and humanitarian relief. We should open our arms to
these families, not tear them apart and put them in jail.
Earlier this year, I was proud to lead all 12 of Democrats on the
Committee on Homeland Security, as well as 63 of our Democratic
colleagues, in sending a letter to Secretary Nielsen strongly opposing
the practice of separating migrant parents from their children at the
border. I continue to condemn this practice by the Trump
Administration. A secure border and effective immigration system is
important. The use of these tactics to deter migration is not only
ineffective, but also un-American. I urge my colleagues to join me in
speaking out against this unjust and inhumane policy.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, during a 2-week
period in May, 658 immigrant children were separated from their
families by Customs and Border Patrol agents at our southern border.
The number of immigrant children held in custody by the United States
government is now 10,773, an increase of 21% since the end of April.
Sadly, this practice of family separation continues to be applied by
the Trump administration today. It must be stopped immediately.
The high majority of families crossing our southern border come from
Central America, where rampant violence threatens the lives of women
and children in particular. These families come to the United States in
hopes of finding safety. Instead, this inhumane policy enforced by the
Trump administration ensures that parents and children will face
additional psychological and emotional trauma.
Separation from parents is particularly damaging for young children,
who have already endured a long and dangerous journey from their points
of origin. Aside from the obvious emotional toll of parental
separation, a report released by the American Civil Liberties Union
last month details pervasive abuse of unaccompanied children by the
Customs and Border Protection agency. Instances of this abuse include
CBP officials repeatedly punching a child's head, verbally abusing
detained children, and denying a pregnant minor medical care, which
resulted in a stillbirth.
Congress must come together to end the Trump administration's
practice and to ensure that these migrants are treated humanely.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recent announcement that this
administration will not grant asylum to victims of domestic and gang
violence will only exacerbate the problems these families face, and at
the very least, we must ensure that they are able to stay together as
they face their uncertain futures.
Mr. Speaker, no matter where they come from, parents and children
belong together, Congress must use its legislative authority to prevent
the Trump administration from ripping them apart.
Mr. VELA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express grave concern about
the acceleration of the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico
border due to the Trump Administration's ``zero tolerance'' policy
toward border crossers. According to Reuters, more than 1,800 families
have been separated from their children in the periods between October
2016 and February 2018.
Since then, the number has dramatically increased. Recent testimony
from CBP officials shows that in the two weeks following Attorney
General Jeff Sessions' May 7th announcement of the policy, 638 adults
with 658 children were placed in the prosecution process, effectively
separating them from their children for an indefinite time period. In
McAllen, Texas alone, federal defenders counted 421 immigrant parents
coming through the court room in the period between May 21st and June
5th. This number is alarming and disgraceful.
While their parents are prosecuted, children are placed in Office of
Refugee Resettlement (ORR) contract facilities like Southwest Key in
Brownsville, Texas, an old Wal-Mart now being used to house children
detainees. Several reports indicate that children in CBP custody are
held in kennel-like cages and are being verbally, emotionally,
physically, and sexually mistreated. We do not know the exact number of
children being held, what they are doing with them inside, or how long
these children remain ``in custody'' before they are able to see their
parents. What we do know is that allowing children to be ripped from
their families is a terrible policy that the United Nations has already
explicitly condemned.
The Trump Administration, through their own volition, decided that it
is in the national interest of the United States to cause such pain and
suffering. Multiple studies have shown that separating children from
their families is a traumatizing experience with lifelong consequences.
To be clear Mr. Speaker, there is no law that requires families to be
torn apart. There is no law that requires that a child go through such
a traumatizing experience. What these children are going through is
reprehensible, unacceptable, and in blatant disregard to the values of
these United States.
Our country was founded on the notion that all peoples are worthy of
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Immigrants come to this
[[Page H5150]]
country searching and hoping to fulfill the American Dream. Many
immigrants risk their lives fleeing their countries plagued with
violence. It is repugnant that the Trump Administration continues to
torment such vulnerable individuals, particularly toddlers, in such an
atrocious manner.
As the world's leading democracy, we should strive to protect human
rights, regardless of one's citizenship or place of origin. Our
nation's child welfare laws have long recognized family unity as an
essential human right. As such, I joined with Homeland Security
Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson to demand information Customs
and Border Protection and the Department of Health and Human Services
about the Administration's de facto policy of separating families at
the border. We need answers and every single day that passes, more
families face the risk of being separated from their loved one.
I urge my colleagues to join me in seeking answers from this
Administration. We cannot let these voices go unheard. These children
are suffering and are in desperate need of our support.
Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time
____________________