Speech #CREC-2017-09-13-pt1-PgH7325_t8

This bill, on the other hand, will not make our communities safer. It will, however, undermine the rule of law in this country by betraying our commitment to the Constitution's guarantee of due process. The bill is also glaringly pretextual in its approach and overbroad in its effect so that it can be seen as nothing other than yet another move to implement Donald John Trump's promise to the Republican base to engage in mass deportation of immigrant communities across our country. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that our immigration system is in dire need of attention. It is also clear that we should approach our work in a manner that is fair to all Americans and compassionate toward those who have fled unbelievable violence and are seeking a better life here in the United States. We should be proud that we remain--despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric emanating from the White House--a beacon of hope for freedom- loving people around the world, and we should remain welcoming upon their arrival. This, however, is not the tack taken by many of my Republican friends, and is certainly not the path taken by House leadership with today's bill. As evidence of their approach, we need only to look at the despair the Republican Party has cast upon the 800,000 DREAMers who live in this country. Instead of finally making permanent the status of DREAMers in this country as full citizens, the first act the Republican majority takes after Donald John Trump tweeted that he would end DACA, then tweeted that he would revisit the issue in 6 months, the first thing that they did was to present a bill that is so broadly drafted that a group of five or more nuns could constitute a criminal gang in the eyes of the law. Indeed, the bill's harboring provisions under section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act are, as Sister Simone Campbell said, ``so sweeping that religious workers who provide shelter, transportation, or support to undocumented immigrants could be found liable of criminal activity. The Federal courts have found that `harboring' includes offering a known undocumented individual a place to stay.'' Sister Simone concluded with this salient point: ``This statute has been used against religious workers in the past, and this bill tries to make it a weapon for the future.'' Mr. Speaker, it was only a few short years ago that the Grand Old Party, in the wake of their electoral loss to President Barack Obama in 2012, issued their autopsy of what went wrong. That report concluded that Republicans must do a better job reaching out to Hispanic Americans. Yet, instead of heeding their own advice, President Donald John Trump called Mexican Americans murderers and rapists on the very first day of his campaign. From that dark point on, Hispanic Americans have had to watch one of the two major political parties in their country descend further and further into the abyss of xenophobia. Democrats stand ready to have a serious conversation about comprehensive immigration reform and border security, and I urge my Republican friends to put the red meat aside for the moment and work with us. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.