Secure the Border Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2, a shameful, unserious bill that would shutter our country's asylum system and make the situation at the border much worse.

For decades, Congressional Republicans have blocked efforts to reform outdated immigration laws, choosing to focus only on the border, believing that if we can be cruel enough, that would deter desperate people from seeking asylum at our Nation's front door. That hasn't worked, and H.R. 2 is more of their same failed approach.

We all want an orderly, well-managed border, especially those of us who live and raise our families on the border, but there is a critical difference that exists from there.

Many of my Republican colleagues want no immigration at all, and many believe cruelty is an effective deterrent. But my Democratic colleagues and I and, indeed, most Americans, know that we must and should have legal pathways coupled with enforcement and strategic investment in order to achieve a functional system.

This bill is an extremist Republican wish list that caters to the party's most warped values by jailing children and families and extinguishing asylum. The cruelty, unfortunately, is the point. It is no wonder that this bill has been called un-Christian.

I represent El Paso, Texas. I am a proud third-generation El Pasoan, and it is where I raised my two children. My community has been at the forefront of immigration for decades, and El Pasoans have always stepped up to help migrants.

Our local governments and NGOs work alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide migrants with food, a place to sleep, and assistance finding transportation to their next destination. We collaborate the best we can, united in our shared humanity.

In 2019, for the first time, local partners became eligible to receive Federal funding for this work, and that has been critical to El Paso and other border communities.

H.R. 2 will bring that funding to an end and would make it illegal for NGOs to provide any services, from a bottle of water to a safe place to sleep.

Let me remind you of Matthew 35:36, ``For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I need clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me.''

This bill would decimate the systems that border communities have built and would literally, by design, create a humanitarian catastrophe.

Because of this and many other shameful provisions, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand against this bill and work with those of us who are committed to a real bipartisan solution.

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