End Cruel Immigration Enforcement Against Kids

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on a moral crisis unfolding in our country. One that demands the attention of my Republican colleagues and the American people.

Last month, in Portland, Oregon, a seven-year-old girl was detained outside an urgent care clinic while her family sought medical help. Just weeks earlier, a five-year-old was detained while walking home from school in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. These are not isolated incidents. These are children, frightened, vulnerable, and in need of care, caught in an indiscriminate immigration enforcement dragnet.

After their arrests, both children were transferred with their families to the Dilley Family Detention Center in Texas, where reports detail inadequate medical care, limited drinking water, poor nutrition, and little access to education. These are conditions no child should endure, let alone in the custody of the United States government.

Although public outcry and legal intervention led to their release, hundreds of other children remain detained. Many are held for months-- over 180 days on average--in facilities never designed for long-term care. They suffer deep psychological harm: anxiety, depression, and trauma compounded by separation and uncertainty.

Policies implemented through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) are now effectively prolonging detention. Barriers to family reunification, like invasive sponsor requirements and information- sharing with enforcement agencies, trap children in custody, often indefinitely. Some are even pressured to abandon their legal rights and return to dangerous conditions.

This is not who we are. Children seeking safety should not be treated as enforcement targets. They should be protected, cared for, and given a fair chance to pursue their legal rights.

Congress must act. We must conduct oversight, end family detention, restore due process protections, and ensure children are placed in the least restrictive settings.

History will judge us not by our rhetoric, but by whether we chose compassion over cruelty. Let us choose wisely.

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