Immigration

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, in June, seven American heroes died on a dark night when a ship collided with an American destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald. Among the dead were immigrants from Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as sons of workers who journeyed north from Guatemala.

As one of the sailors who survived explained: You are crammed in with all sorts of cultures on the ship, but when you are on the Fitzgerald, you are family.

Just like the Fitzgerald, my unit in Iraq included men of many races and religions. We were a family, too, and it made us stronger.

Madam Speaker, what is true of our military is also true of our country. Lots of nations have democratic institutions, plenty of countries have good schools, and all too many, as we know, wield powerful weapons; but what makes America great, what makes America powerful, and what makes America America is that, since our founding, we have thrown our doors open to the world, and we have kept them open to the strivers and the dreamers from every corner of the globe.

We didn't become the greatest, most powerful country in the world because we let in a certain group of people and then slammed the door behind them. No, Madam Speaker, we built this country by making America the only country in the world where anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything.

President Reagan may have summed it up best when he explained that:

You can go to Japan to live but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. Anyone can come to America to live and become an American.

Unfortunately, our current President and his friends in Congress want to turn their backs on what made America great. Their anti-immigrant agenda will lead to the deportation of millions and drastic cuts in legal immigration.

The last time Congress restricted immigration in this way was almost 100 years ago. Back then, conservatives were worried that there were too many Italians and Jews who were arriving on our shores. Now, they are concerned about Mexican, Nigerian, and Chinese immigrants. The rhetoric may have shifted, the targets may have changed, but it is the same kind of backward, un-American thinking that existed then.

The American people are too smart for this. We don't fear people who don't speak like us or look like us or even pray the way we do. Time and time again, we have rejected the racists and the nativists of this country. We have done it before, and we will do it again.

Madam Speaker, I don't have to look at the polls to tell you that there are a lot more Americans like Aaron Chamberlin from Phoenix than like Donald Trump.

Aaron is a restaurant owner in Phoenix. When he learned that a young prep chef named Suny Santana was undocumented, Aaron said Suny could stay as long as he found a way to fix his undocumented status.

Thankfully, Suny qualified for DACA. He worked hard and thrived. In fact, he did so well that Aaron offered to partner with him in opening his very own new restaurant in downtown Phoenix. But then, cruelly and without warning, President Trump terminated DACA and stripped away Suny's status, throwing his entire life into limbo.

Democrats are fighting for Dreamers like Suny and for businessowners like Aaron who believe in them.

We are also fighting for veterans like Miguel Perez of Chicago. Miguel has lived in this country since he was 8 years old. He served two tours in Afghanistan and suffers from PTSD as a result of his service. Unfortunately, as is too often the case with us, this led to problems with addiction. Miguel deserves our support. Instead, he is facing deportation.

As I speak, Miguel is currently sitting in an ICE detention center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which happens to be in the district of our Speaker, Paul Ryan.

Miguel isn't alone. Hundreds of immigrants who served our country in uniform could now be deported at the behest of a President who has never served one day in service to this country. These are men and women who took an oath to protect and defend this Nation. They have earned the right to call this country home. They have earned the right to call themselves Americans. To deport these brave men and women after they have fought under our flag dishonors the service of all of us who risked our lives for this country.

We must find a way to protect Dreamers and immigrant families, including brave immigrants who served in uniform. The American people are on our side. They know that Trump's fearful vision for our future is incompatible with who we are as Americans. They are proud to live in a country that attracts the brightest minds and the hardest workers from all around the world. They understand that exclusion and hate are the exact opposite of what makes America America.

This Nation did not become great by kicking out immigrants who fight hard like Miguel or who dream big like Suny. Unlike every other country on Earth, we aren't defined by where we come from, but we are defined by what we believe.

Donald Trump may not understand that, but the American people do.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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