June 13, 2018

Castro Statement on Discharge Petition Failure, Upcoming Immigration Votes

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 statement:

“Last night’s announcement by Speaker Ryan that the discharge petition will be effectively stopped is deeply disappointing. We had 216 Republicans and Democrats, with only two signatures away, from bringing meaningful, bipartisan legislation to the House Floor that would finally give our nation’s Dreamers clarity on their future in the United States. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for putting partisan politics aside to get work done.

“Instead of allowing Congress to vote on a bipartisan bills that could actually pass, Speaker Ryan continues to derail, dismantle and delay the process at President Trump’s behest. Now we will have two bills brought to the floor next week with zero Democratic consultation, crafted by extreme ideologues that have no chance of passing. This is a ploy to make Speaker Ryan appear as if he is dealing with DACA when in reality we know he is not.

“As we approach the 6th anniversary of DACA on Friday, hundreds of thousands of Dreamers live in a cruel and avoidable legal limbo. The President created this nine months ago, and Congress owes the American people a path to citizenship for Dreamers that we all want.”

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