President. I rise today to speak out against a bill that is misguided. stands against everything that America represents. and suggests that it will protect Americans when. in fact. it will protect Americans less. From our founding. our principles have been guided by core values of equality. fairness. freedom. and tolerance. and in turn. we have honored the many ways that immigrants have contributed to this country since its inception. Yet the other side of the aisle is once again engaged in a stubborn. relentless. and shameful assault against immigrants. As the son of immigrants myself. I find it hard not to take offense at the antiimmigrant rhetoric we are hearing from their Presidential candidates. It is unacceptable. deplorable. and should be renounced by every American. We are witnessing the most overtly nativist. xenophobic campaign in modern U.S. history. We have hit a new low with the extraordinarily hateful rhetoric that diminishes immigrants contributions to American history and particularly demonizes the Latino community by labeling Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. The Republican leading in the polls actually launched his Presidential candidacy by attacking immigrants. saying: Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. Please spare me. It is senseless and false. Yet some of my Senate colleagues have decided to jump on the GOPs fearmongering bandwagon. seeking to blindly stamp millions of hardworking. lawabiding immigrant families as criminals and rapists. and that is why we are here today. That antiimmigrant rhetoric has made its way to the Senate floor courtesy of Donald Trump and some Republicans eager to capitalize on this rhetoric for their own political gain. This is nothing more than another offensive antiimmigrant bill. another effort to demonize those who risk everything for a better life for themselves and their children. those who were left with no choice but to flee persecution and violence or else face a certain death. That is what we are debating here today. Those are the individuals this legislation seeks to brand as criminals. This bill does nothing more than instigate fear and divide our Nation. Supporters of this bill may say that it is in response to a tragedy such as what happened in San Francisco. and what happened in San Francisco was a tragedy. Such tragedies will not be prevented by this legislation but by real immigration reform. I am happy to have that debatea real debate. an honest and compassionate debate. a debate the country deservesbut that is not what is happening in this bill. The title of the bill asserts that it will protect Americans. Well. to be clear. this bill will not protect Americans because it second guesses decisions made by local law enforcement around the country about how to best police their own communities and ensure public safety. What is worse. this bill mandates local law enforcement to take on Federal immigration enforcement duties by threatening to strip away funding from as many as 300 local jurisdictions. from programs such as the community development block grant. communityoriented policing services. and the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. These are programs that directly help our towns and communities. The CDBG Program grows local economies and improves the quality of life for families. It has assisted hundreds of millions of people with low and moderate incomes. stabilized neighborhoods. provided affordable housing. and improved the safety and quality of life of American citizens. The Cops on the Beat grant funds salaries and benefits for police officers who serve us every day by keeping our communities safe. and they deserve better than being dragged into partisan politics. My colleague from Louisiana seeks to strip funding from localities that undertake the balancing of public safety considerations and refuse to act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But this bill goes even further than that. This bill isnt content with taking discretion away from local communities. it takes it away from the judicial branch.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization that Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals.