[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5661-S5662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Immigration

  Madam President, before I yield the floor, I would like to take a 
moment to forcefully oppose ongoing efforts to attach harmful 
immigration proposals to the national security supplemental package we 
are considering. It is the height of absurdity to claim that the price 
for assisting our international allies is gutting our asylum and 
humanitarian parole laws.
  Democrats should not and cannot stand idly by while asylum seekers 
and immigrant families are imperiled by a handful of Senators operating 
in total darkness, without any meaningful feedback from a broader 
coalition of Hispanic, Black, and Asian legislators, advocates, and 
others who should be helping shape these negotiations.
  For all those who care about the future of immigrants in this 
country--indeed, our very identity as a beacon of hope for those 
seeking a better life--now is the time to make your voice heard. Now is 
the time to make it clear that we will not allow our asylum and 
humanitarian parole laws to be gutted, while undocumented immigrants, 
including Dreamers, TPS recipients, farm workers, and essential workers 
are forced to stay in the shadows. Now is the time to make it clear 
that we will not stand by as some try to fundamentally change our 
immigration system without any transparent, deliberative process. This 
is the time to make it clear that we should not be codifying asylum and 
transit bans into law--failed policies that will do nothing to mitigate 
the flow of migration to the United States.
  Moreover, now is the time for my Democratic colleagues in both the 
Senate and the House to meet the moment. This is our clarion call. We 
must find the moral courage to do what is right. Otherwise, what are we 
doing here? How are we supposed to face our constituents and immigrant 
families across the Nation, some of whom are doing the most difficult 
jobs in our country in order to help us, and argue that we are the 
party that stands with immigrants? We cannot capitulate to the extremes 
in the Republican Party that are more interested in demonizing and 
hurting immigrants than working together in good faith to fix our 
immigration system.
  We must reject the notion that playing our role as the defender of 
freedom and democracy around the world comes at the cost of our own 
identity as a nation of immigrants. We are the United States of 
America. Let's ultimately start acting like that.

[[Page S5662]]