[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H5583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, as we recover from the chaos emanating 
from the White House and the tweeter-in-chief last week, it is 
important to recognize children are not invaders. Children must not be 
used as political pawns for reckless immigration enforcement policy.
  I thank Justin Amash for being a lonely, but principled Republican 
voice, reminding your colleagues, even if Donald Trump doesn't 
recognize the Fifth Amendment, that under the Constitution, nobody is 
denied of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
  There are over 300 other Republicans in the House and Senate, and I 
hope America hears from them. And Democrats should welcome a contest of 
ideas and a contest at the ballot box, not shouting at restaurants.
  It is important that we don't lose sight of the bigger picture. There 
is a reason that tens of thousands of people have come to the southern 
border: the chaos and violence in parts of Mexico, especially Central 
America, and the violence especially strong in the triangle of 
Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
  The United States is not an entirely innocent bystander there. We 
have supported repressive dictators in those countries in the 1980s, 
and we have been meddling in their affairs for generations.
  It is the lucrative American drug market that has fueled the drug 
trade and gang activity. Part of our failed drug policies have 
destabilized the lives of millions. The immense profits from the 
American drug trade drives that activity to the borders, corrupts 
governments, and has created a situation where we cannot even keep 
drugs and cell phones out of American prisons.
  What is the answer? I would suggest that it is not to deny people 
fearing for their lives a right to prove their case as refugees seeking 
asylum. The answer is not to hold children hostages in a macabre, 
hateful drama that is a shame on all Americans.
  The answer is not to forcibly take children out of the arms of their 
mother, and then lose them in the system. I mean, wait a minute. If the 
Postal Service and UPS can tell you where the sweat socks and the 
razors that you ordered a week ago are in the system, why can't we tell 
parents where their most precious possession, their children, are--and 
the notion that some are walking away from detention facilities.
  The Trump administration is talking about reorganizing essential 
government departments. Maybe if they want to do that, they ought to 
start with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They ought to start 
with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health 
and Human Services, all of the agencies that are a part of this 
embarrassing spectacle, to figure out how to do it right, how to do it 
humanely, in an open and transparent fashion, and stop the notion that 
somehow there will be zero tolerance; that we will separate children 
from their families at the borders; and we will criminalize people who 
are seeking asylum.
  Let's stop this malignant policy. Let's get children back to their 
parents. Let's elevate the discourse respectfully, but forcefully 
battle ideas and support the vulnerable.
  It is not merely a question of justice for immigrant children, but of 
justice and integrity of all Americans.

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