Secure the Border Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, Mr. Thompson, for the opportunity to speak here today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2. During the nearly 17 hours that the Committee on Homeland Security met to consider the border bill offered by Mr. Green, Democrats offered more than 40 amendments in order to remedy significant shortcomings in the bill.

In an effort to offer new provisions to bolster operations at Customs and Border Protection and build up the fiscal year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which is what was supposed to be going on, working on the budget that night, under Democratic leadership, they provide over $17 billion to CBP to not only enhance port of entry operations but also increase funding to the U.S. Border Patrol by 17 percent.

All of the amendments were rejected by the committee Republicans. Instead of working with Democrats to provide bipartisan solutions to fix our broken immigration system, H.R. 2 is just a far-right, MAGA- style immigration bill advanced by Republicans that would tear at the fabric of American values and drastically limit asylum opportunities while doing nothing to create an orderly system.

The xenophobia bill filed in this space of religious values that Republicans claim to live by, at best, H.R. 2 is a deeply distrustful effort to exploit irregular migration at the southwest border, which is expected to intensify with the termination of title 42 health restrictions.

To make political points with Donald Trump and his devoted, extreme MAGA base, the hardworking civil servants who work to keep our border secure deserve so much better.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Republicans who support detaining and deporting more migrants to take a look at section 115(c), division A. If enacted, it would prohibit DHS from contracting with any nongovernmental organizations to transport or shelter ``inadmissible aliens.'' This language would prevent ICE from being able to contract with private companies that facilitate deportations or provide detention space, because they want a nongovernmental organization to do it.

Now, for the life of me, here we are again. You can't have it both ways. You want all of this deportation to happen, but now you are limiting the organization from doing it.

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Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, just one last point.

Ironically, it seems that the child deportation act may actually undermine the MAGA extreme deportation agenda.

Listening to my colleague, the ranking member from Mississippi, we have already torn children and babies away from their families. Now, it appears that we won't even help women who might be pregnant in this endeavor. I mean, how far do you want to go?

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