End Cruel Immigration Enforcement Against Kids

Floor Speech

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Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I thank both my colleagues for holding this Special Order. It is such an important issue that so many of our constituents care about. I know that, representing my home State of Vermont, people are just absolutely outraged by what is happening.

I am a former teacher. I am also a mom of two teenagers, and I know deep in my bones that we have to care for all our children. When I see ICE targeting children and using kids as bait to get to their parents, I feel sick. I am disgusted.

What has happened to our humanity, our moral compass in this country?

From the start of Trump's term until last October, at least 3,800 kids were booked into ICE custody. This includes roughly 500 children under the age of 5 and at least 20 infants.

Do you remember the experience of Liam Ramos? He was 5 years old when he was picked up. He was 5. I remember what my kids were doing when they were 5. My son and daughter were learning how to spell their names. They were learning how to count to 10. They were drawing and singing and riding their bikes. They were running around with wild abandon on a playground.

This is what we are talking about when we talk about 5-year-old kids. Our government is locking them up with our taxpayer money. This is who President Trump and Stephen Miller want us to believe are villains in our national story. They are kids. They are kids.

As my colleague said: What is happening in these facilities? They don't have clean water. They don't have food that they can eat that isn't filled with worms. Think about that. There is nothing that justifies treating children like this. Nothing.

They are our kids, and I am using that because it is the truth of the matter. It is not somebody else's kids. These are our kids. They live in our communities. They live in our districts, and we should care about all of our kids. Every single child in this country deserves care and humane treatment. It is that simple.

What is happening at the hands of ICE is an abomination. Kids are not the enemy. I can't believe I even have to say that on the floor of the House of Representatives of the United States of America, that kids are not the enemy. This is a fundamental question of decency and who we claim to be as Americans.

Are we a country that looks at a child and sees innocence and wonder and potential or are we looking at a child and seeing some kind of enemy, an enemy of the people?

This is absurd. This is unconscionable. Again, it is happening with our taxpayer money. You cannot look away. I know what Vermonters believe, which is why I took to the floor today. Children deserve protection and dignity, period. No exceptions. We must fight together to find our way, our collective way, back to decency and compassion in this country.

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