Raúl Grijalva: “I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for yielding. I happen to represent every border community and every port of…”

“I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for yielding. I happen to represent every border community and every port of entry along the Arizona-Mexico border. It is my home, where I grew up, and that is where I live. That is where I have lived, in those borderlands. I don't need a photo op tour for me to understand, to feel, and to respect the fact that these communities and this area of our Nation have been left behind not just by policy but by intent. H.R. 2 is not serious legislation to address our urgent need to fix our broken immigration system, to respond to the pending humanitarian crisis on our border, and to combat the deadly flow of fentanyl and human exploitation by organized crime syndicates. It won't do that. What H.R. 2 will do? It will devastate our affordable food supply by eliminating up to half the workforce in agriculture, farming, and ranching. It will dramatically increase the economic hardship of border communities and the borderlands. It will fund the Trump memorial wall, a piece of useless government waste. It will demonize children and unaccompanied youth. It will provide Republicans with fundraising tools, and it will also provide them with the means to create division, fear, and chaos in preparation for the 2024 elections. My Republican colleagues hope that voters will overlook the growing extremism and their failure to deal with real issues in this Congress, one of them being immigration.…”