U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) issued the following statement in response to House Republican's approval of poison pill amendments to a must-pass funding legislation for the Department of Homeland Security.
"In their first immigration related action of this congress, Republicans in the House of Representatives are playing Russian roulette with our nation's security by tacking overreaching, anti-immigrant poison pill amendments to must-pass funding legislation for the Department of Homeland Security. In the wake of last week's carnage in Paris by violent extremists, the last thing we need is Republican extremism putting at risk the ability to keep our homeland safe.
"It's shocking, but not surprising that the new House Republican strategy is the same as the old one: protect our broken immigration system no matter the costs and embrace the status quo.
"As we continue preparing for a smooth implementation process of the DACA and DAPA programs, I sincerely hope my Senate Republican colleagues drop this ill-conceived strategy so that we can approve a clean funding bill that avoids shutting down the Department of Homeland Security."