Delia Ramirez Calls Out Lack Of Transparency In Letting Members Of Congress Visit Detention Centers

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In House floor remarks, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) slammed the Special Interest Alien Reporting Act.

Transcript

00:01The member from Illinois is recognized.

00:03Thank you, Ranking Member Lucorrea.

00:05Well, of course, Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition of H.R. 275.

00:10And before I get into the conversation of the bill that we're debating today, I want

00:14to respond to this whole thing about transparency that I continue to hear my colleagues talk

00:18about.

00:19Talk about smoke on this side and they're all about transparency.

00:21Well, if you're really all about transparency, why is it that members of Congress can't show

00:27up to a detention center and do their congressional oversight and see what's going on in those

00:32detention centers?

00:33It seems like you're okay with transparency when it's convenient to you, but when it's

00:37about members of Congress, regardless of the party that they are a part of, going to one

00:42of these detention centers, a holding center, is when we have heard that pregnant women are

00:47sleeping on the ground, starved.

00:49People are days wearing the same clothing because they're at a holding center where they should

00:54have been going through due process.

00:56And unfortunately, there's no transparency there because what they end up saying is send

01:01an email or, you know, transparency only works when, you know, it's convenient to the Republicans.

01:08So I just want to say it's really hypocritical to hear my colleagues here talk about transparency

01:12when they seem to be hiding the violation of human rights every single day.

01:17And I want to be honest about the bill we're debating right now.

01:20This is not a bill of national security.

01:22If it were, it wouldn't propose to make sensitive security information public.

01:28No, this bill is just Republicans' latest attempt to give the Trump administration another

01:34anti-immigrant tool so that they can continue to do the fear-mongering that they know how

01:40to do so well.

01:41It's just another list that Donald Trump and Kristi Noem and Republicans and the sponsor

01:46here can use to justify their unlawful, abusive actions.

01:51You want to disappear people from California?

01:54Just say that new members of the latest criminal organization were found crossing the southern

01:58border.

02:00You want Americans to surrender their rights?

02:03Well, fear-monger and tell them that a special interest alien from a criminal organization

02:09is operating a cell in their neighborhood.

02:11The Trump administration has already demonstrated to us that they are comfortable abusing every

02:17tool and system we have under the guise of national security and protection.

02:22The administration has weaponized every well-intentioned tool that this body has authorized to make immigration

02:29more humane.

02:31What makes us think that this list will be any different?

02:35I refuse to hand over greater authority and power to DHS given all the ways that they're

02:41running rampant through our states and cities, breaking down doors, kidnapping mothers, children,

02:48and law-abiding neighbors who have contributed to our communities for years.

02:53They have proven to be completely untrustworthy, downright hostile to oversight, accountability,

02:59and compliance with the rule of law.

03:01And so they can't be entrusted with additional tools and mandates with which they can violate

03:06our rights.

03:08Let me be very clear.

03:09For Trump and Noem, today's report is tomorrow's anti-immigrant fascist tool.

03:15I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill, and with that I yield back to the ranking

03:19member.

03:20The member yields back.

03:21The member from California is recognized.

03:22Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

03:26The member reserves.

03:27The member from Tennessee is recognized.

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