VIDEO: Rep. Stansbury: “Americans want bipartisan immigration reform. They do not want children in cages.”

VIDEO LINK: Link is available here.

WASHINGTON—Today, in a Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.-01) spoke of the atrocities that have happened on the U.S-Mexico border and slammed the House GOP for their lack of compassion for migrants seeking a better life. 

“Can you imagine traveling thousands of miles across the continent and being separated from your child?” Rep. Stansbury asked. “I think it is unimaginable for most Americans, and I think the political theater that we're seeing in this committee room, that we're seeing in the halls of Congress right now, to not humanize the reality of what we're actually talking about and the policies that the GOP is putting forward right now right here in this House are not about solving the immigration challenges that we're facing.” 

She continued by highlighting that all nine Border Patrol Chiefs the committee interviewed said their biggest hurdle when doing their job is the lack of resources to do it effectively, and that the House GOP refuses to release the transcripts of those interviews. 

“The reason why the Republicans won't release the actual transcripts is instead, they wanted to cherry pick a few quotes that prove their point to try to put forward these cruel policies that would put children back in cages,” Rep. Stansbury said. 

The Congresswoman ended by explaining what the FBI agents she met with a few weeks ago told her about the fentanyl crisis. 

“Most of the fentanyl that is coming into our communities is coming in through legal ports of entry, being smuggled in not by immigrants seeking asylum, but by drug smugglers that are being paid by cartels to bring those drugs into our community where they are killing members of our community,” Rep. Stansbury said. “So let's be accurate. Americans want bipartisan immigration reform. They do not want children in cages.” 

Rep. Stansbury’s full remarks as delivered are below:   

I want to start today by sharing this image behind me. I hesitated, but I think it's important that the American people understand what we're talking about here. And I think it's really important that we remember what happened in 2017 when the zero-tolerance policy went into effect. There were literally thousands of children from all over the world who were separated from their parents, and they were placed in cages. Many of those families have never been reunited. To this day, there are hundreds of families that have not found their children because of this policy.  

Can you imagine traveling thousands of miles across the continent and being separated from your child? I think it is unimaginable for most Americans, and I think the political theater that we're seeing in this committee room, that we're seeing in the halls of Congress right now, to not humanize the reality of what we're actually talking about and the policies that the GOP is putting forward right now right here in this House are not about solving the immigration challenges that we're facing. 

They're not about solving the fentanyl crisis. They're not about solving the asylum problems and addressing the institutional deficiencies that they have. They're about cruelty. They're not about actually addressing the problems on the ground. And we know that because right now, the Senate has been trying to engage in a bipartisan negotiation over border policies with the administration. And just this week, Speaker Johnson said just days ago that he would not negotiate on a bipartisan immigration deal, but instead, he would continue to advocate for House Bill two, which is the policy priorities that have been put forward by members of this committee on the GOP side and the leadership. And what we know about what is in House Bill Two is that it is not designed to actually solve the problem on the ground. 

Yes, we are seeing a record number of people arriving on the southern border right now. And like other great migrations in American history, there are thousands of people coming to the United States right now seeking refuge; whether that's from warfare, violence, economic crisis, natural disasters, personal crises. That's why, as was stated, many of our ancestors came here. My own ancestors came at the height of the great famines in Ireland. And luckily for my family and for me to be able to sit here today, they were able to become a part of this society. 

That's why we're seeing a record number of people arriving on our border. These are people who are fleeing crisis in their country. But what we know is that House Bill two is not designed to actually solve that problem. In fact, much of it is rooted in the Trump administration's policies that they put forward during their administration, including this. 

I want to know, does any American want to see children in cages again? I don't think they do. I think what Americans want is real solutions. They want to see how we're going to solve these problems. And I think that's why I'm particularly disturbed that the majority on this committee who interviewed all nine chiefs of the Border Patrol along all nine sectors of the border, won't release the transcripts of what those agents said because, with all due respect, what those agents told us in those transcribed interviews is it is a resource problem. In fact, the only thing that every single Border Patrol agent asked for was more resources, more staffing, more technology, more support, more ability to actually address the crisis that they're seeing.  

That is what every single Border Patrol agent chief told this committee. And the reason why the Republicans won't release the actual transcripts is instead, they wanted to cherry pick a few quotes that prove their point to try to put forward these cruel policies that would put children back in cages because it is a resources problem. 

And also, with all due respect, because I was just briefed by the field agents, by the FBI about where the fentanyl is coming into our communities, literally just days ago before the holidays. And most of the fentanyl that is coming into our communities is coming in through legal ports of entry, being smuggled in not by immigrants seeking asylum, but by drug smugglers that are being paid by cartels to bring those drugs into our community where they are killing members of our community. 

So let's be accurate. Americans want bipartisan immigration reform. They do not want children in cages. 

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