Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII With Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions Reported From the Committee on Rules, and Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEN RAY LUJÁN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I will answer my friend's question that was just asked as he was speaking.

What is happening on the floor is Republicans are trying to weaken human trafficking laws. That is what is happening.

Over the last few days, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have jumped through linguistic and logical hoops to say that the most humane way to deal with these children is to deport them quickly without due process to discourage other children from making the dangerous journey.

There is no question that the journey is dangerous. Children are killed, robbed, raped, and maimed along the way, but the children know the risks. They are not ignorant to those risks.

Why? Because back in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, children are being raped, killed, and robbed every day. It is a fact. Read the news.

Deporting children without process to these conditions or locking them into their home countries and preventing them from fleeing to find safety is not humane. It would be, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said, like sending them back into a burning building. We can do better than this.

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