Political Quotes

“I think it is important for us to clarify when we talk about ``unaccompanied children'' whom the administration is labeling an ``unaccompanied child.'' If a child comes with their grandmother, they are deemed unaccompanied. If the child comes with their older brother or sister, they are deemed unaccompanied. If a child comes with a family member that is anyone but their biological mother or father, they are deemed unaccompanied. Their family is labeled as human traffickers, often by the press or otherwise. I think it is important that we add a cultural context to this conversation. We have to reassert that seeking asylum is not a crime. We should not be expanding a system of detention and criminalization of people who have committed no crime and hurt no person, aside from just simply trying to seek asylum, which is their human right. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.”