Sheila Jackson Lee: “People are, in fact, alarmed. They need to know that the migrants coming in are from Mexico. We do have an OTM, other…”

“People are, in fact, alarmed. They need to know that the migrants coming in are from Mexico. We do have an OTM, other than Mexican, people already going back--India, China, the Philippines, El Salvador, Vietnam, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Korea. It is widely diverse, based upon the persecution that people are feeling or the economic lack of life. As we proceeded to do this work, do you know, as I leave this podium, that if you are an overstay in a hospital, you can automatically be criminally charged? In an amendment, I said: What is the intent? Do you know whether they were in a hospital, or they had a funeral, that they were, in essence, near death? There is no mercy. Mr. Speaker, this legislation needs to go back to the drawing board. Americans and Houstonians are asking for us to do the right thing and to get security at the border and not have a bill that does nothing. That is what it does--absolutely nothing. Mr. Speaker, I am here today o reassert my opposition to the proposed legislation, H.R. 2--Secure the Border Act of 2023, and to again assert the need for strong reconsideration for the harm and damage this bill will do to the American people and those seeking citizenship into our country. I do believe America must have a secure border!…”