Speech #1140002720

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong opposition to this poison pill amendment. which is a laundry list of attacks on anything the executive branch has done to improve immigration and border security policy. It caters to every whim of the Republican Conferences most extreme elements. It would defund the Secretarys Southern Border and Approaches Campaign designed to unify border security efforts. It would defund policies to improve employmentbased immigration. to bring highly skilled workers into our country. It would defund the policy to parole in place family members of citizens or lawful permanent residents who seek to enlist in the U.S. military. a policy supported by the Department of Defense. Incredibly. it would defund the Departments provision of temporary relief to individuals who were brought to this country illegally as childrenthose covered by the DREAM Actand to the parents of U.S. citizens who meet certain criteria. Of course. it would defund the Secretarys policy of setting immigration enforcement priorities. Every prosecutor in this country exercises some level of discretion to make the most of limited resources. We want our police to pursue murderers over traffic violators. We also should want DHS to focus enforcement efforts on illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities. Now. it would be preferableas the President is the first to acknowledgeto pass comprehensive immigration reform to address our countrys festering immigration challenges. But in the face of House Republicans failure to act. the President has taken wellconsidered steps. each of them wellgrounded in law and precedent. If the Republican majority wishes to change the law in some way to deny him such authority. they should introduce legislation to do so.