Schools Not Shelters Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Speaker, I am a little confused by my colleague's comments when he said that Members on this side of the aisle were ``deathly afraid.'' No one is deathly afraid. What we are, though, is we are in support of my good friend from New York, Mr. Molinaro's Schools Not Shelters Act, to safeguard American children and prevent American schools from being forced to bear the burden of the Biden administration's ongoing migrant crisis.

I am proud to cosponsor this important bill that will prohibit schools that receive Federal funding from being used as shelters for migrants, which is a misguided policy being advanced by Governor Kathy Hochul, Albany Democrats, and many other progressives across this great Nation.

Due to the dereliction of duty by Secretary Mayorkas and the overall mismanagement of the Department of Homeland Security by the Biden administration, the United States has seen a record number of migrants cross into this great Nation.

This deluge has placed a significant particularly strong strain on sanctuary States, such as New York, where Governor Hochul continues to place the interests of migrants ahead of students who we want to keep safe.

The Hochul administration has made housing migrants at schools a priority, a fact that troubles many parents, educators, and students alike. Housing migrants whose histories are murky and intentions unknown at schools from the elementary level to the collegiate level endangers youth learners and puts students in a potentially dangerous situation of interacting with adult migrants in spaces that should be reserved for students.

The fact that migrants are currently being housed in school gyms, particularly in New York City, is absolutely ridiculous. Instead of recognizing that this is a problem, Governor Hochul is seeking to expand this policy to SUNY campuses.

You see, parents send their kids to school to be in a safe zone, and it is incumbent on the Federal Government to do everything possible to stop it. For this purpose, I support the Schools Not Shelters Act and encourage my colleagues to support this legislation I have cosponsored.

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