Speech #1140056355

We should be doing everything we can to help local police departmentsnot take away their ability to put officers on the street. Republicans also want to punish communities by taking away their community development block grants. which would hurt thousands of working families who rely on these funds for safe. affordable housing and other critical services. This GOP bill would also take away SCAAP funding. which reimburses State and local governments for the costs of incarcerating undocumented immigrants. This funding has been repeatedly slashed. and it has never been enoughespecially in my State of California. which spends nearly $1 billion a year on these incarceration costs. These cuts would have devastating impact on States and local communities. Now. there are some California communities reviewing their specific policies and forging cooperation agreements with Federal immigration officialsand I think thats a good thing. I believe that State and local officials should examine their policies to ensure that they are preserving the trust that law enforcement has built in our communities. while keeping serious and violent felons off our streets. Unfortunately. this Republican bill would do the exact oppositeit would undermine the trust that has been developed between police and immigrant communities. and it would set back efforts to solve cases and put dangerous criminals behind bars. The real question is: Why are we even considering this bill? Why isnt Congress passing the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that the Senate passed more than 2 years ago? That bipartisan bill would make our country safer by adding 20.000 more Border Patrol agents. increasing surveillance. and hiring additional prosecutors and judges to boost prosecutions of illegal border crossings. The measure would also make clear that serious or violent felons will never get a pathway to citizenship or legal status. And the bill would bring families out of the shadowsso that they dont fear being deported or separated from their families . . . so they feel comfortable cooperating with police and reporting crimes in their communities. Lets make our communities safer by passing real immigration reform and by defeating this misguided Republican bill. I urge my colleagues to vote no.