[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H4215-H4216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CELEBRATING IMMIGRANT HERITAGE MONTH

  (Ms. Barragan of California was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, it is Immigrant Heritage Month. This 
month, we celebrate what millions of Americans have been cheering: The 
remarkable success of the United States men's national soccer team at 
the World Cup.
  Across our country, families have gathered in living rooms and 
restaurants to watch Team USA compete on the world's biggest stage.
  As our national team inspires our country, the Trump administration 
has chosen a different message. Just days ago, the Department of 
Homeland Security posted social media messages featuring members of 
Team USA alongside slogans such as ``Defend the Homeland'' and ``Built 
the Wall.''
  Think about that irony. The administration pushed anti-immigrant 
messaging by using the very images of a team whose success shows the 
very value of immigration.
  Many of the players on Team USA are immigrants or are children of 
immigrants. Several players were born outside the United States or hold 
dual citizenship. Their stories span continents, cultures, and 
generations.
  This is not a weakness of America. That is America. One of our team's 
star scorers, Folarin Balogun, is a perfect example. He was born in 
Brooklyn while his Nigerian parents were temporarily living in New 
York. Under the Constitution of the United States, he became an 
American citizen at birth. Today, he wears our Nation's jersey. He 
scores goals for our country.
  Yet, the same administration celebrating our players is trying to end 
birthright citizenship, the very principle that made Balogun an 
American in the first place.
  Now, this issue extends far beyond soccer. The Trump administration 
has pursued policies that make it harder for people to come here 
legally, harder for families to reunite, harder for refugees to find 
safety, and harder for talented students and workers to build their 
futures in our country.
  Across the country, communities continue to experience ruthless 
immigration enforcement actions that separate families, create fear, 
and leave children wondering whether a parent will come home at the end 
of the day.
  We should ask ourselves simple questions: Who are we losing? Who 
never gets the chance?
  Maybe it is the next star striker who would score the winning goal 
for Team USA.
  Maybe it is the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who would discover a 
cure for a devastating disease, like Katalin Kariko, who immigrated 
from Hungary to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship. Her 
research made the COVID-19 vaccine possible.
  Maybe it is Omar Yaghi, an immigrant born to a Palestinian refugee 
family living in Jordan, who immigrated to the United States at 15. 
Professor Yaghi, of UC Berkeley, received a Nobel Prize in chemistry 
last year.

[[Page H4216]]

  Maybe it is the entrepreneur who would launch the next great American 
company, like Sergey Brin, a Soviet Union refugee at age 6. Sergey went 
on to cofound Google.
  History teaches us that immigrants have helped build every chapter of 
America's success. That has driven innovation in medicine, science, 
technology, and industry.
  That is why Immigrant Heritage Month matters. It is a reminder that 
our diversity is not something to fear. It is one of our greatest 
competitive advantages. We should not be turning our backs on the very 
people who help make America more dynamic.
  The lesson of Team USA is that America succeeds because, generation 
after generation, people from around the world have come here, 
contributed here, and become part of our national story.
  That story is still being written.
  During Immigrant Heritage Month, let us reject division, and let us 
embrace an immigration system worthy of the Nation we aspire to be, a 
nation wise enough to recognize that immigrants are not a threat to 
America's future. They are helping to build it.

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