Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 4371

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY. I think Senator Cornyn and I share a goal--actually, multiple goals--one is to adequately protect children who are crossing the border by themselves to make sure that they are in adequate, humane, and appropriate placements; but also to vet individuals, including young unaccompanied minors who are crossing the border to make sure that they are not a danger to themselves or to others.

I am going to object to this bill today. It is a pretty comprehensive rewrite of a lot of the laws relative to the detention of minors. And while I think we can probably come to some common ground here, as I read this bill in preparation for the Senator's unanimous consent request, it looks as if it has a number of measures that would actually be seriously detrimental to vulnerable kids, kids who pose no threat to themselves or to others.

Let me just give you one example, and it is a pretty significant problem with this bill that maybe we could clear up. This bill does not allow for unaccompanied minors to be immediately reunited with their biological parent if their parent is a TPS holder, if their parent is applying for asylum, if their parent is a refugee, if their parent is here on a student visa. And so there are going to be a whole bunch of kids who are not going to be reunited with their parent--which I think we have always agreed is the proper course, if possible--because of some of the underlying provisions in this bill. So I just think that this has to go through another round of edits and work before it is ready to come to the floor.

I will also note that this administration sold us on their new immigration policy based on the fact that they were going to be going after ``the worst of the worst.'' They are going to be going after immigrants who pose a danger to the community. I think that is what Senator Cornyn's goal is here, to make sure that we aren't bringing into the country young people that might present a danger to others.

But, of course, the facts do not back up the administration's claim. What we have learned after a year and a half is that this administration is not going after ``the worst of the worst.'' Eighty- five percent of the people they are detaining have no criminal history at all; 95 percent of the people they are detaining have no history of violence at all. They are roaming American streets just looking for anybody with an accent.

So I am all for an immigration policy that tries to target the very, very small number of people entering this country who may pose a danger to Americans. The reality still is that immigrants commit crimes at rates lower than natural-born citizens.

But we are in league on the underlying goal. I just think this bill doesn't get there; and, in fact, this bill may do a lot of harm to kids who pose absolutely no threat to themselves or to others. And for that reason, I would object.

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