Ne Colorado News

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (CO-08) on May 11, 2023, voted against H.R. 2, the draconian, wasteful immigration bill Speaker McCarthy brought to the House floor. While Republicans and Democrats have clear areas of agreement on urgently-needed immigration reforms, McCarthy chose to put forth a non-starter bill that wastes taxpayer money on an ineffective border wall, subjects children to harsh detention conditions, and would break our asylum process.

“Both parties agree: our immigration system is broken. But instead of taking up realistic and desperately-needed reform that we agree on, Mr. McCarthy put forth a non-starter bill,” said Congresswoman Caraveo. “This legislation will waste taxpayer money on an ineffective border wall and introduce further chaos into our immigration and asylum system. It’s a disservice to the American people.”

Congresswoman Caraveo believes a successful border management strategy must include robust enforcement at the border of illegal crossings, deterrence to discourage illegal immigration, and legal pathways to ensure that those in need of protection are not turned away to face death or serious harm. Unfortunately, H.R. 2 does nothing to address the root causes of migration, it reduces humanitarian protections, and it restricts lawful pathways, which are critical alternatives to unlawful entry.

In addition to voting against this bill, recent efforts Caraveo has taken to address these urgent immigration issues include:

Helping lead Colorado’s U.S. House Democrats in pressing President Joe Biden for additional resources for Denver to manage an influx of migrant arrivals

Joining in requesting additional federal funding to help stem the flow of deadly illicit fentanyl into our country and maintaining a secure southern border; and

Joining in calling on Congressional leadership to pass comprehensive, commonsense immigration reform.

Among its most egregious offenses, H.R. 2 would:

Waste taxpayer’s money. 

CBO estimates that this bill would cost the American people a whopping $6.1 billion. 

It mandates that DHS immediately start on the construction of at least 900 miles of border wall.  

This medieval approach to security at our border ignores all common sense and is nothing more than wasteful.

CBP records show that newer segments of border wall have been breached over 3,272 times. Instead of a wall, CBP has called for a variety of resources and efforts, infrastructure, technology and personnel.

Americans overwhelmingly disagree with this extreme policy with 58% of Americans opposing the expansion of the wall and 68% of Latinos opposing the border wall.

Subject children to some of the harshest detention and deportation tactics.  

Republican tactics of cruelty are aimed at:

Depriving vulnerable children of attorneys who protect them from trafficking,

Subjecting many unaccompanied children to jail-type detention for up to 30 days—ten times longer than permitted under current law,

The last administration separated over 3,900 children at the border. This bill would rather see more children sent back to their home country instead of having them reunited with their U.S. Citizen parent in the U.S.

Break our asylum process.

If the Child Deportation Act had been law last year, we couldn’t have welcomed Ukrainians to the U.S. who were fleeing a brutal unwarranted war started by Russia.

Ending these programs would roll back incredible progress made in expanding legal pathways to the U.S. so that people don’t have to risk their lives to get to safety. 

See a section-by-section analysis of the bill.

H.R. 2 has received wide opposition, including from: AFL-CIO, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Organizations, Central American Resource Center of Northern California, CHIRLA, Church World Service, Community Change Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, American Friends Service Committee, HIAS, Human Rights First, Jesuit Conference, Kids in Need of Defense, Latino Christian National Network, National Education Association, National Immigration Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, Sojourners, Southern Border Communities Coalition, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’, UnidosUS, Women’s Refugee Commission, and Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights.

Original source can be found here.