Providing for Consideration of H.R. Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, the Keep Families Together Act is the only bill that is a real solution to the human tragedy of abuses of children, of family separation at our border. This bill prohibits the separation of children from their parents; limits criminal prosecutions for asylum seekers; and requires DHS to reunite children and parents, something that the Trump administration has no plan for.

Mr. Speaker, the Keep Families Together Act is the bill we should be sending to the President's desk for signature, not H.R. 6136. H.R. 6136 does absolutely nothing to address the abuses of children, and I want to make it clear that it actually makes things worse.

Does anybody really believe that incarcerating children with their parents is the solution to family separation? or making children more vulnerable to trafficking? or eliminating basic requirements for confinement, like clean water and toilets?

Mr. Speaker, 11 days ago, I met with mothers detained in a Federal prison after cruelly being separated from their children, and one of the mothers told me how she made the devastating decision to leave her blind child behind and take her other child to safety because she knew that the blind child would not be able to make this journey.

These mothers and fathers are making impossible choices to come here to this country seeking safety, and H.R. 6136 does nothing to reunite these children, screaming ``Mama'' and ``Papi,'' with their parents. The best case scenario is that they would be incarcerated in a family prison camp.

The President is responsible for this tragedy, and he has not reversed this policy. DHS has said that they don't even know where this child is.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6136 does not even address the crisis of Dreamers. I believe my colleague from the great State of Washington when he says he wants to fix that.

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Ms. JAYAPAL. But, in fact, this locks 82 percent of Dreamers out of citizenship, while dismantling the family immigration system and revoking approved petitions for 3 million family members who have paid fees and waited for years.

This is not a moderate bill. It is wrong.

Let's stand up for these children. Let's bring the Keep Families Together Act to the floor for a vote. Let us stand up for America.

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