Immigration Legislation

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York with heartfelt thanks for organizing this effort tonight and calling attention to what is such a poignant and powerful issue, one that we haven't faced in a long time and one that has engaged the people of this country in a way that we have not seen in a very long time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to strongly condemn the Trump administration's policy of child abuse--yes, it is child abuse--at our Nation's border and to demand answers and solutions. The President's zero-tolerance policy has separated thousands of children from their parents, some who are younger than a year old.

I just saw my colleague from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur, who was on the floor not that long ago, and she talked to me and said there have been two babies separated from their parents, ages 8 months and 11 months, and flown to Michigan.

Think about it. Think about your own children. Think about your grandchildren.

The Trump administration is now keeping babies and toddlers in cages. The fencing is what you do for a dog run. It is the same kind of fencing that these children are in.

Yesterday, the President signed an executive order. He claims it is going to fix the crisis that he made. Yet two infants were on a plane tonight, separated from their families and sent to Michigan.

What is the weight of that executive order? It is not worth the paper it is written on. His executive order is not going to fix the crisis.

Michelle Brane, director of the Women's Refugee Commission Migrant Rights and Justice program, describes the President's executive order as ``no solution.'' She said ``there are more than 2,000 children already separated from their parents. This executive order does nothing to address that nightmare.''

There are 2,300 children who are in limbo. They don't know where their parents are. They are too young, some of them, to know where their parents are, and their parents don't know where they are.

Have you ever been to a shopping mall on a Saturday with your kids or with your grandkids and all of a sudden you turn around and you can't find them? The panic is overwhelming. You don't know what to do first, who to call. You are looking around frantically. It is the same with a child who is calling out ``Mommy,'' ``Grandma,'' because they don't know where their link is.

This is the United States of America. What are we doing? It is a nightmare. This is about children. They are at the center of this crisis.

As I see it, there are three crucial questions that President Trump and his fellow Republicans have yet to answer. First is reunification. There is no plan for reunification. How is this administration going to reunite children with their parents?

According to statistics from the Department of Homeland Security, between May and June, the Trump administration, as I said, took 2,300 children from their parents at the border. How are they going to guarantee prompt reunification of all of these children and their parents, especially when some of the parents have already been deported? Some of these children have none of the records necessary to turn them back to their parents or even to verify who their parents are. Can you imagine?

I fear that these children may never see their parents again. And that is what the former Director of U.S. Customs and Enforcement, John Sandweg, said. He warned: ``You could be creating thousands of immigrant orphans.''

That is unspeakably heartbreaking, when you think about it, for many of these children and their parents. That last hug might have been their last hug. Can you imagine the terror?

It is terror to not know where your child is and with the thought that you may never see that child again. I cannot imagine it.

I was on the floor of the House today a good part of the day and I saw a lot of little tykes here, beautiful children playing on the chairs here in the safety and security with their mothers or their fathers who are sons, daughters, and Members of the House of Representatives, or maybe even grandchildren. I had my grandchildren here last week. If you think that you might not ever see them again or they may not see you, that is what is happening on the border.

What are the standards under which the Trump administration is detaining these children?

Children are the most vulnerable in our society. We need to take extreme precaution whenever we take responsibility for them.

What are the accommodations in these detention facilities in regard to healthcare, availability of mental health professionals?

Experts are sounding the alarm about the healt repercussions, the mental health repercussions. Luis H. Zayas is a professor of social work and psychiatry at the University of Texas at Austin. He said: ``It's not like an auto body shop where you fix the dent and everything looks like new. We're talking about children's minds. If that trauma continues over a long period of time, that can actually begin to shift brain development because it becomes more of a chronic trauma.''

These children need professional care. Instead, there are reports that children are being sedated. They are being injected with sedatives to keep them calm. There are reports that special-needs children are not receiving any of the care and attention they need.

That is unacceptable. There are clear standards on the books on how children are to be cared for in these situations. We need to ensure the Trump administration is following the law.

Another area is oversight. Congress has a moral and constitutional obligation to ensure the administration is taking the proper, immediate, and necessary steps to fix their own self-inflicted crisis, which is why I introduced a resolution which 180 of my colleagues have supported and Democratic colleagues have supported to condemn this policy as child abuse.

This is child abuse, make no mistake. This is not an issue of right or left or Democrats or Republicans. This is an issue of right and wrong. That is why we sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget Director, Mr. Mulvaney, and HHS Secretary Azar on June 14 and asked about the costs that the President's policy decision has incurred.

We have not heard an answer from them or from the administration on any of these questions--not on costs, not on reunification, not on standards, not on oversight. It is unacceptable.

The President's self-manufactured crisis is child abuse, plain and simple. As Members of this Congress, we have a moral responsibility, a moral obligation to stand up and to say: Stop this child abuse. Mr. President, fix this crisis now. Your executive order didn't do it.

Humanity, this is about our humanity. It is about the soul of this country and what we are about and where our values are. Whatever our views are on immigration, to watch what is happening at our border with disrupting families, wrenching children from their parents is a disgrace, and it is one that we have to address as Members of Congress, and it is one that this President and this administration and those others who support this effort need to look into their hearts and souls and say: I can't go there. Let's do something else to help to make a difference.

I want to thank the gentlewoman for all that she is doing to bring attention to this issue. God bless her.

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