Jose Luis Correa: “I thank our colleagues on the other side of the aisle for taking on such an important and difficult task: immigration…”

“I thank our colleagues on the other side of the aisle for taking on such an important and difficult task: immigration reform, the refugee crisis. My friends on the other side are absolutely correct. Title 42 is ending today. I have to remind you, when many of you voted to lift the COVID-19 emergency, you legally, effectively, voted to end title 42. Don't forget that. You voted to lift title 42. Today, we are facing a worldwide refugee crisis, the likes that we haven't seen since World War II. In World War II, we had 60 million refugees moving throughout Europe. This is what we are facing today. It is not only the United States. It is also Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia, who is housing 2.4 million Venezuelan refugees. This is a challenge for all of us. We need real solutions. Under existing laws, we do have some solutions. I am probably the only legislator here today that went to visit the Ukrainian refugee camps in Tijuana, Mexico, about a year ago. Let me tell you what I found: Ukrainian refugees in Tijuana waiting to cross into the United States. What did we do? We lifted title 42. We gave them temporary protective status, and walked them into the United States. Today, that refugee camp is gone. Why? Because those refugees can apply for status from Europe directly. That is a model that worked under existing laws, and the administration, this Biden administration, is implementing something very similar to that as we speak.…”