Raúl Grijalva: “Today, while Kristi Noem staged yet another photo op, this time in Nogales, Arizona, families across this country are…”

“Today, while Kristi Noem staged yet another photo op, this time in Nogales, Arizona, families across this country are still grieving people who should be alive. Let's be clear: Border communities are not war zones. Border towns, like Nogales, which I represent in Congress, are vibrant, binational communities where families live, work, and thrive. Instead of listening to local leaders, this administration keeps choosing militarization, fear mongering, and political theater, and it is costing people their lives. On January 7, an ICE agent murdered Renee Good, an unarmed U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis. Two weeks later, just miles away, Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Federal agents. In both cases, the administration lied about what happened, smeared the victims, and blocked independent investigations. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a growing pattern. For border communities, this violence is not new. In 2012, 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was shot and killed by Border Patrol through a border fence while he was walking home on the Mexico side of the border in Nogales, Sonora. He was unarmed. He was a child. For far too long, communities like mine have been told to accept this as the cost of enforcement. That is why, yesterday, I voted against continued funding for DHS. I will not rubberstamp an agency that enables violence, racial profiling, and terror in our neighborhoods.”