Fresno Leader

WASHINGTON – Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21) released the following statement after voting no on House Republicans H.R. 2 – Secure the Border Act.  

“House Republicans have put forth an extreme bill that will do nothing to fix our broken immigration system. Building a wall is not a real solution. This bill ignores the challenges facing our nation, would tank the economy, and includes nothing to protect farmworkers or Dreamers who contribute so much to our national economy and culture,” said Costa. “Both Republicans and Democrats need to come to the table and enact bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform. We can protect Dreamers and solve workforce challenges, while also strengthening our nation’s border security.”

The “Secure the Border Act” does not offer effective solutions to strengthen our nation’s border security—in fact, it does the opposite. Specifically, this bill would:

• Waste money on building Trump’s ineffective border wall – a wall Mexico did not pay for. Instead of a wall, CBP has called for a variety of resources and efforts, infrastructure, technology, and personnel.

• Undermine essential partnerships with humanitarian organizations by prohibiting DHS funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Red Cross, that provide shelter, food, clothing assistance to battered women, children, and other vulnerable immigrants.

• Requires the State Department to reinitiate the Trump policy of Remain in Mexico (MPP), which requires migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico until their US immigration court date.

• Strips protections for unaccompanied children by allowing them to be detained for a month or more, limits their access to counsel and puts them at risk of sending them back into the hands of smugglers.

• Imposes a nationwide E-verify for all U.S. Businesses that would require employers to verify immigration status of any employee they hire. This could wipe out half of our nation’s agricultural workforce—  would cause agricultural production to fall by $60 billion dollars and food prices for all Americans to rise 5-6%.

• While it calls for increasing Border Patrol staffing, last month, House Republicans passed their debt limit bill that would eliminate funding for 2,400 CBP officers and agents, according to DHS.

In response to this extreme bill, Costa and House Democrats reintroduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2023, which would fix our broken immigration system. This legislation provides pathways to citizenship, strengthens our labor market, provides critical resources, staffing and technology to our southern border, and addresses the root causes of migration. Costa is an original co-sponsor of the legislation.

A fact sheet of this bill is available here.

 

Issues:Foreign Affairs and National Security Immigration 

Original source can be found here.