[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 81 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E436-E437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SECURE THE BORDER ACT 2023

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 2023

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H.R. 2, the ``Child 
Deportation Act.''
  I remind my colleagues that seeking asylum is not a privilege, it's a 
basic human right, enshrined in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights.
  I cannot support a bill that will deport unaccompanied children, end 
asylum, restart the disastrous ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, jail 
immigrant families, and impose restrictions on NGOs, including faith-
based organizations that provide shelter, transportation, food or legal 
assistance to vulnerable immigrants and asylum seekers.
  I have to tell you Mr. Speaker, I couldn't believe my eyes when I 
read that in the very first part of this bill, Section 102 of Division 
A, Republicans would actually seek to restart border wall construction 
with U.S. taxpayer dollars.
  I don't know about my friends on the other side of the aisle, but I 
was under the impression that not only had Trump finished the wall, but 
that Mexico had paid for it.
  The truth of the matter is that Trump only built 80 miles of his wall 
in places where no kind of barrier existed previously. That's not even 
5 percent of the total southern border.
  But that's not all. The Trump administration eviscerated our asylum 
and refugee admission program, and effectively denied those fleeing 
violence the right to seek asylum.
  Mr. Speaker, no one chooses to be a refugee, and in the face of 
nearly 100 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, the highest 
level ever recorded, America must reclaim its status as a safe haven 
for the downtrodden and once again open its door to refugees.
  But opening our doors to refugees and immigrants is not just about 
our compassion and humanity.
  It is estimated that draconian Trump-era restrictions on asylum 
seekers, many of which are included in H.R. 2, permanently shrank the 
United States economy by $9.1 billion each year of his administration.
  The Trump party claims they want to grow the economy, but not at the 
expense of their own xenophobia.
  Mr. Speaker, it's difficult to imagine that this Republican 
conference could offer a serious bill that would address the situation 
at the border.
  This is the same Republican conference who had prominent members 
calling for defunding the Department of Homeland Security just months 
ago.
  This is the same Republican party that voted against $7.2 billion for 
Border Patrol operations, which included the hiring of 300 more border 
patrol agents.
  Mr. Speaker, Emma Lazarus's poem, ``the new colossus,'' written just 
18 years after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, cast into 
bronze at the turn of the 20th century inside the pedestal of the 
Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, provides the instructive message 
that Lady Liberty herself represents.
  ``Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to 
breathe free.''
  The only thing Republicans have forgotten to do in this bill is amend 
Emma Lazarus' poem to say, ``Give me your tired, your poor, your 
huddled masses yearning to breathe free and send them back to face the 
violence they are fleeing.''
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this inhumane, wasteful, 
dogmatic legislation. The priorities of this body must include passing 
comprehensive immigration reform, protecting dreamers, rebuilding the 
asylum

[[Page E437]]

system, and meeting our labor shortage needs. This bill falls 
remarkably short.

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