[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 87 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3072-S3073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        END MASS DEPORTATION ACT

  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Madam President, I take to the floor today to urge 
my colleagues to halt the President's indiscriminate deportation 
regime. This administration is targeting immigrants who are deeply 
woven into our communities, and this inhumane approach must end.
  For 30 years, David Chavez-Macias, who was born in Mexico, lived in 
Reno, NV. He worked as a landscaper during the week and went to church 
on Sundays. He raised four children, and he tried to follow the law. He 
paid his taxes and hired attorneys to help him become an American 
citizen. In 2013, he was pulled over for turning left as the street 
light changed. That traffic stop brought him to the attention of 
immigration enforcement.
  Now, the previous administration had permitted Mr. Chavez-Macias to 
stay with his family. After all, he had a heart condition that required 
regular treatment, and he had been a hard-working community member for 
decades; yet under this administration, David was deported to Mexico, 
ripping him from his family.
  Now, as a granddaughter of immigrants, I understand how much 
immigrants like David contribute to American communities, and as a 
native Nevadan--a State where one in five schoolchildren have an 
undocumented parent--I know how deeply communities are hurt when we 
drive out longtime members. That is why I am introducing the End Mass 
Deportation Act to keep the Trump administration from pursuing people 
like David. This bill will make sure we are not indiscriminately 
targeting people for deportation who have contributed to their 
communities for decades.
  Just days after taking office, President Trump issued an Executive 
order that changed our immigration enforcement priorities. He gave ICE 
the green light to aggressively pursue anyone without papers, not just 
people who had committed serious crimes or posed a threat to our public 
safety. My bill rescinds this cruel and counterproductive order.
  Now, the Trump administration is deporting people who have lived in 
the United States--sometimes for decades--playing by the rules, 
providing for their families, starting businesses, and contributing to 
their communities. In Nevada, almost 90 percent of undocumented 
residents have been in the United States for more than 5 years.
  These are people who own their own homes. They are people who pay 
billions of dollars in taxes each year. Their children are citizens, 
legal permanent residents, and Dreamers. They are our neighbors, our 
coworkers, and our friends. The impact of this policy on American 
families has been profound. Since President Trump signed his Executive 
order, arrests of immigrants without criminal records have tripled.
  The End Mass Deportation Act would make the administration focus our 
law enforcement resources where they should be: on people who pose a 
legitimate threat to our communities.
  Historically, prosecutorial discretion was used to take into account 
the compelling circumstances of an individual's case, like parents who 
have U.S. citizen children and strong ties to the community or 
individuals who have served in our military. As a former prosecutor, I 
understand what an important law enforcement tool this is.
  The President's mass deportation order ends that prosecutorial 
discretion in our immigration system, taking

[[Page S3073]]

valuable time and resources away from pursuing criminals and other 
security threats. Even worse, the order makes us all less safe because 
it discourages people without documentation from turning to police to 
report crime.
  Put yourself in the shoes of an undocumented woman who is the victim 
of domestic violence or someone without papers exploited at the hands 
of an unscrupulous boss. When those crimes go unreported, our 
neighborhoods suffer.
  Listen, I recognize that we have a broken immigration system, but the 
way to fix it isn't to persecute people like David whose biggest 
offense is a traffic ticket. We need to pass comprehensive immigration 
reform, but until we do and until we can come together in a bipartisan 
way, we must rescind these Executive orders that are not moving this 
debate forward in a useful way. Let's reverse this administration's 
cruel and dangerous policy.
  I am the first to tell you--and I see it every single day in my 
State--immigrants enlarge our vision of who we live with, work with, 
and worship with. By passing the End Mass Deportation Act, we will 
remind all Americans that every generation of immigrants enriches the 
fabric of our Nation and will provide the sense of security that every 
family with undocumented members needs to thrive. I urge my colleagues 
to support this act.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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