Condemning the Use of Elementary and Secondary School Facilities to Provide Shelter for Aliens Who Are Not Admitted to the United States
Floor Speech
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 524, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 461) condemning the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 461, a resolution condemning the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States.
Round condemnation of adult, illegal migrants sharing facilities with schoolchildren would be supported by both sides of the aisle but for one simple reason. It would require Democrats to confront the tragedy of their own making at the southern border.
The rhetoric from the left deploys flowery language to address the flooding of migrants into our country. It is a scam.
Democrats must confront reality. There are real human consequences to losing operational control of our southern border. Democrats have plunged our southern border into chaos, trafficking, and bloodshed.
Last year, 2.76 million migrants illegally crossed our southern border. Over 800 of them died making the journey.
Customs and Border Protection also seized 14,700 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2022. In a year in which 110,000 Americans fatally overdosed on drugs, each pound of fentanyl missed by Customs and Border Protection has the potential to kill over 200,000 people.
The encounters, the deaths, and the trafficking are a three-, four-, and five-time increase over the last year of the Trump administration. We have a deadly opioid epidemic, a human trafficking epidemic, and an overall humanitarian epidemic at our southern border, all stemming from the Biden administration's policies.
H. Res. 461 is a crystal-clear rebuke of the chaos at the border.
It applies to K-12 institutions because, make no mistake, Democrats are making elementary, middle, and high schools a battleground for chaotic border policies.
In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams planned to house migrants in up to 20 current and former public school gymnasiums. In Chicago, local leadership is reportedly considering housing hundreds of illegal immigrants in a shuttered high school.
Housing migrants in public schools is not a new occurrence. CNN, CBS, and the New York Post have all uncovered instances of this already happening across the country. For Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul, these plans are a mere formalization of their unwillingness to enforce the law. This is what Republicans mean when we say every State is a border State and every town is a border town.
Moreover, the collateral of this broken policy are America's schoolchildren. It is completely unacceptable. Turning schools into housing centers for illegal immigrants distracts schools from their mission.
Schools should be focused on helping students recover from devastating pandemic-era learning loss. We know that children are suffering in the wake of the pandemic. Math and reading scores have plummeted to their lowest level in years. Forcing schools to shelter illegal immigrants will not help with that.
Additionally, hosting illegal immigrants on school campuses poses a significant safety risk to schoolchildren and compromises schools' ability to secure their own campuses.
Furthermore, using school gymnasiums as housing for illegal aliens may impede children's access to safe recreation and physical education. It may force children to spend their entire school day with little exercise and may disrupt the ordinary routines of the school day.
As always with the Republican Party, threatening the safety of our children is a nonstarter. We are voting on a resolution today to condemn the threat posed to our children.
Our resolution condemns the breakdown of law and order at the southern border. It condemns the lawlessness perpetuated by blue cities and States like New York.
I hope the entire body votes for the passage of H. Res. 461 and sends a message to America that there is no substitute for a secure border.
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks), the author of this resolution.
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Williams), a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Mr. WILLIAMS of New York. Madam Speaker, for the past 2 years, every State has become a border State, and each has felt the pressures of illegal immigration. This past month, 10,000 migrants have illegally entered our country per day.
A nation's borders mark the boundaries of its laws and sovereignty. This violation of both our laws and our sovereignty must stop.
Representative Miller-Meeks and I brought forward H. Res. 461 because it is necessary and urgent. Our resolution sends a clear and decisive message that everyone in this Chamber and across the country must hear: Congress will not tolerate officials at the State and local level using taxpayer-funded schools and facilities to play cleanup for President Biden and the Progressive left's broken border policies.
In my State of New York, our Governor offered up State-funded college campuses to house illegal immigrants. In New York City, Mayor Adams proposed repurposing public school gyms to house them.
During this last school year, 5,500 migrant students strained New York City's public school resources. Time and time again, we are seeing classrooms overflowing and understaffed and our school taxes ever rising. This problem is not just in New York. It spans across each and every community in our Union.
This resolution makes three distinct points. First, housing illegal immigrants in our schools diverts critical resources away from students.
Second, housing adult, unvetted, illegal immigrants in our public schools poses a safety risk to our children.
Third, schools are not to be the sacrificial lamb for the failed progressive policies of this administration.
Just last week, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle repeatedly justified the housing of illegal immigrants in public schools, comparing it to the response to natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires.
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York.
Mr. WILLIAMS of New York. Just last week, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle repeatedly justified the housing of illegal immigrants in public schools, comparing it to the response to natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires.
I couldn't agree more. The President's border policies are a disaster, though man-made. I stand to put our children first. Vote to support H. Res. 461.
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. D'Esposito).
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis).
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Ms. FOXX. Res. 461.
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Ms. FOXX.
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, to sum up the debate, H. Res. 461 does four things. It sends a clear message about our values. It condemns lawbreaking where Democrat politicians have failed to do so. It tells parents that we are on their side. Most importantly, it reiterates that public school facilities should be used for educating children, not housing illegal immigrants, because the academic success and safety of America's students must be put first.
Therefore, I urge the House of Representatives and Congress to pass H. Res. 461, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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