Veronica Escobar: “This week, the House is poised to pass a bill threatening funding for public schools and institutions of higher learning…”

“This week, the House is poised to pass a bill threatening funding for public schools and institutions of higher learning if they provide shelter to vulnerable migrants. First, it is important to state the obvious. Migrant encounters are down by 70 percent, and the number of people arriving at the southern border has dropped significantly since the Biden administration ended the use of the Trump-era title 42 policy months ago. While my Republican colleagues want to continue their rabidly anti- immigrant agenda instead of focusing on the needs of the American people, the American people should know that President Biden's efforts to better manage the border are working. Second, it is important for the American people to understand what my Republican colleagues are really trying to do. Last December and early again this spring, members of the media descended on my community of El Paso, Texas, to film and interview hundreds, and at some point, thousands of migrants sleeping on the streets of El Paso. During that coverage, my community told the country that our shelters were full. My community, like others across the country, sprang into action, and with the help of Federal funding, El Paso's Office of Emergency Management provided emergency shelter for vulnerable migrants, and because other shelters were full, had to use empty schools on a temporary basis.…”