I rise in opposition to this amendment. Once again. we have an amendment that. on its face. simply restates existing law. In fact. the gentleman offering the amendment has acknowledged that existing law categorically prohibits HUD benefits from going to undocumented persons. What is going on here? What is lurking beneath the surface? I fear something is. An antiimmigrant agenda based on fear and prejudice would appear to be the answer. We are feeding into widely held misconceptions that so many undocumented immigrants are seeking and receiving Federal benefits. that Federal programs. Federal dollars. are being abused and misused. Well. we do need to have a remedy for our broken immigration system. As I said earlier. a comprehensive immigration reform bill. bipartisan. passed the Senate last Congress. It could be placed on this floor tomorrow and pass overwhelmingly. That doesnt appear to be happening. Instead. what we have is this drumbeat of measures that are denigrating the immigrant community. We need to have some restraint in this body on such amendments. They dont alter existing law.
Keywords matched
antiimmigrant undocumented immigration immigrant immigrants