Protecting Our Communities From Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Chair, I thank Ranking Member Grijalva for yielding.

I rise today in opposition to this disingenuous bill introduced under the guise of protecting National Park Service land.

If Republicans were really concerned about protecting our national parks, why did they vote to cut the National Park Service budget by approximately half a billion dollars in the appropriations bill that they passed less than a month ago?

The point here is not to protect the National Park Service. The point here is cruelty.

If extreme MAGA Republicans really wanted to preserve public lands, why have they passed bills that include shameless giveaways of our public lands and waters to the destructive oil, gas, and mining industries?

If Republicans really cared about our Federal lands, why have they continuously tried to gut bedrock environmental laws, like the Endangered Species Act, since taking the majority?

Republicans do not care about our national parks. They are simply looking for more excuses to spread anti-immigrant rhetoric.

I know firsthand that the situation in New York is a humanitarian crisis and not a partisan issue. If you want to tackle the root cause of this, let's get together to draft legislation. We have legislation that has been introduced--in many instances, bipartisan legislation. Let's get real and deal with the broken system that we have in this country and address comprehensive immigration reform.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. We must ensure that people fleeing violence and persecution, regardless of nationality or other demographics, can access asylum and the refugee resettlement system in this country, as required by law.

New York City is doing all it can to accomplish this, but it cannot do it alone. The real solution here is to increase support for the city and the individuals exercising their protected right to seek asylum in the United States.

The bill before us today is performative and vilifies migrants, making it harder for New York City to meet this moment.
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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment, which would allow the Secretary of the Interior to provide housing when States sending asylum seekers to New York City fail to meet certain conditions.

Today, there are over 65,900 asylum seekers currently in the care of the city. To respond to this influx, our city has opened 213 sites, including 18 large-scale humanitarian relief centers.

A guiding principle of New York City's response has been that people fleeing violence and persecution deserve a functioning asylum and refugee resettlement system in this country.

To my colleagues who are intent on labeling these people illegal, I ask, do they not have the legal right to seek asylum enshrined under the Geneva Refugee Convention and U.S. law?

Asylum seekers are human beings who have fled disaster, conflict, and persecution to come to the United States for a better life. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. They should not be used as pawns in cruel political stunts.

Politicians from States like Texas and Florida have bused asylum seekers to New York to get on cable news. These buses are often sent with little to no communication from officials in those States. Tens of thousands of migrants have been sent to New York from various originating States, no matter if they wanted to come or not. They may not have a clue about the conditions they will find in New York or the resources available to them.

As temperatures fall below freezing, there are lines of asylum seekers waiting outside of centers because they have reached their 30- day limit at city-run shelters. They have nowhere else to go. However, here we are, debating a bill that will close Floyd Bennett Field.

My amendment will ensure that asylum seekers--not illegal aliens but asylum seekers--who are bused from State to State without support, scant information, and no other options can access the resources they deserve. Specifically, my amendment allows the Secretary of the Interior to authorize the use of land controlled by the National Park Service for the purpose of housing migrants when a State fails to provide 48 hours' notice to the receiving State or provide truthful information to the migrants about where they are being transported to or provide the opportunity to refuse the busing.

We have heard hundreds of migrant stories about not knowing where they are being sent. We cannot allow this practice to continue without consequences. My amendment will help create an accountability system for the States that decide to deceptively bus migrants to other States like New York.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva).

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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