July 18, 2018

Castro Floor Remarks on Failure to Address Family Separation

- As Delivered – Click Here for Video –

WASHINGTON—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and First Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, today made the following remarks against Republican leadership’s failure to address the family separation crisis and instead consider H.Res. 990, the non-binding and politically-driven resolution concerning Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on the House floor:

“On behalf of many Americans, enough.

“Enough of cruelty disguised as border security. Enough of inflicting pain on children to make their parents stay away. Enough of picking on the weak to show that you’re strong.

“The people in this chamber who are the sons and daughters of immigrants from all over the world should know the history of this nation.

“And the fact that, when the Irish came here, they were greeted with signs in New York and Boston that said ‘no Irish need apply.’ Those of German descent were said to be ‘too dirty’ to be Americans. Italians were interned during World War II.

“Are we a nation that learns from our mistakes or are we not? Are we a country that adheres to our Constitution and strives to achieve the words inside it or are we just pretending?

“This is a special nation, a nation that has been blessed by people who’ve come here from all over the world. And yet the policies of this Administration denigrate the history of this country and denigrate its future.

“These families must stop being separated.

“Just because you come up to a border or cross a border does not make you non-human. They should be treated as human beings, most especially from a country that is supposed to be a moral beacon for the world over.”

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