Yvette Clarke: “I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) for their…”

“I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) for their leadership in anchoring this year's CBC Special Order hour and thank them in particular for this evening here in review. Mr. Speaker, it has been a long road. From fighting to keep SNAP funding to rehashing the Affordable Care Act to advocating for immigration reform that is truly diverse and comprehensive, the CBC has come a long way. As one of the cochairs of the CBC immigration task force, I am proud of the work we have done to ensure that everyone, including immigrants of the African diaspora and African Americans, were adequately included and represented in this conversation. It feels like it was just yesterday when we stood here in February introducing the CBC's perspective on the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform. That night, we laid the foundation of what was to be an uphill battle between politics, policy, and procedure. The CBC, along with our Tri-Caucus colleagues, argued that the burden of the broken immigration system does not encumber one group of immigrants alone. For example, there are approximately 3 million immigrants from the African diaspora in the United States, the vast majority of whom entered the country with legal documentation, but there are millions more from all over the world, including eastern Europe and South Asia.…”