Bennie Thompson: “I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for yielding. I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 5525, a bill more…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for yielding. I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 5525, a bill more designed to appease the extreme MAGA wing of the Republican Party than to stave off a government shutdown. With just hours remaining before our Nation is thrust into an unnecessary shutdown, the House is being forced to waste time on a measure that would impose draconian cuts to vital Federal programs and compel the enactment of H.R. 2, the child deportation act. When we considered H.R. 2 in May, I called it a cruel, extreme, unworkable immigration and border security measure. Time has not been kind to the bill. It still would wreck our economy, cripple our ports of entry, destroy the asylum system, criminalize visa overstays, force unaccompanied children into dangerous situations, jail families and children indefinitely, and on top of all that, worsen conditions at the border. The child deportation act would upend CBP's ability to process migrants at ports of entry and bar funding to humanitarian organizations that provide shelter, transportation, and legal assistance to children and families fleeing horrific conditions. Moreover, it does nothing to stem the deadly flow of fentanyl into the United States. The Senate will not take up H.R. 5525, and it will never go to the President's desk.…”