Mark Takano: “America is less safe when the words and actions of our leaders cast unnecessary suspicion on our fellow citizens.…”

“America is less safe when the words and actions of our leaders cast unnecessary suspicion on our fellow citizens. America is less safe when families, including children, are targeted by government officials based on their ethnicity or by their country of origin. Reports of unjust, prolonged detentions of Iranian Americans and permanent residents at our borders should be alarming to everyone. It calls to mind the unjust internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. My own parents were toddlers in Japanese American internment camps, and they, along with 120,000 others, were unjustly incarcerated, having committed no crimes or acts of disloyalty. What happened to my family was the result of a failure of political leadership. All of us in this body have a duty to remain vigilant and to defend the dignity of all citizens. To do nothing is to be complicit in violating the spirit of our Constitution and the individual liberties it guarantees. ____________________”