Statement By Congressman WM. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri After Failure of Trump/GOP Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Family Bill

Statement

Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri issued the following first-person statement after H.R. 6136, the phony GOP Border Security and Immigration Reform Act was sounded defeated today in the U.S. House.

"This ill-conceived and dishonest bill was not a compromise, and it did not solve the issue of family separation. It perpetuated a racially intolerant assault on immigrant families while holding Dreamers hostage for a border wall.

The appalling level of racial intolerance and hatred of non-white immigrants drives everything that President Trump and House Republicans do on immigration.

This bill would have actually made the situation worse for children -- maintaining their barbaric policy of family separation in many cases and trading it for the indefinite detention of children in others.

In cases of prolonged detention, Republicans wanted to eliminate all court-ordered protections for children's health and safety -- creating a situation in which children will be held in prison-like conditions.

This bill also held Dreamers hostage to the idiotic border wall. It provided a long, convoluted and nearly impossible path to permanent residency that could have been yanked away if the multi-billion dollar Trump border wall is not fully funded each year.

In essence, Dreamers would be used as political pawns during every future appropriations fight.

That's cruel, that's racist, and it's wrong for our country.

America is better than this flawed bill, that's why it was soundly defeated.

I stand ready to work towards real immigration reform."

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