Secure America Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this reconciliation bill.

Last year, Republicans handed ICE and CBP an $85 billion slush fund.

Today, they want $70 billion more with no reforms and no accountability for the crimes they have committed. This is at a time when Americans are barely making ends meet.

Let me tell you what the money could mean for working families. It could provide free childcare for over 1 million children for 2 years. We could expand and extend the ACA premium tax credit for at least a year. We could cancel the Medicare debt of a third of Americans.

Instead, congressional Republicans want to hand more money to the same rogue agents that have kidnapped and killed Americans across the country.

We know who is really paying for this. When Federal agents flooded Minneapolis, our cities suffered $200 million in economic damages, at least. Workers stayed home. Small businesses shuttered, and tens of thousands of residents were suddenly thrown into food and housing insecurity.

This is why I will be introducing a bill to redirect ICE's slush fund to the very communities that the agencies have terrorized and harmed. This is who this money should be going to, everyday Americans who are just trying to survive in Trump's disastrous economy.

Mr. Speaker, I won't support another dollar for ICE, and I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.

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