RANKING MEMBER NADLER FLOOR STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO H.R. 4760, THE “SECURING AMERICA’S FUTURE ACT” (SAFE ACT)
Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, delivered the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to H.R. 4760, the Securing America’s Future Act (SAFE Act):
“This legislation is nothing more than a wish-list of the far-right anti-immigrant fringe. It would do nothing to solve the real problems plaguing our immigration system, while causing untold suffering for millions of people.
“Over the last month, the world watched President Trump create a family separation crisis out of thin air. I personally met with fathers whose children have been ripped from their arms, who have no idea when — or if — they will ever see their children again.
“One father I spoke to was promised he would be kept with his young child, only to have officers enter his room in the middle of the night and forcibly take away his young daughter. We have all seen the anguished faces of the parents separated from their children, and listened to the desperate cries of sobbing children, screaming for their parents. This is government-sponsored child abuse.
“In the midst of this national emergency this legislation does absolutely nothing to solve the crisis. The President — after falsely claiming that he had no choice but to enact this cruel and brutal policy — now says he will end it, proving that he and his Administration were lying all along. But it is not clear that yesterday’s Executive Order immediately ends family separation. It also puts our country on a dangerous path of prolonged detention for parents and children, while doing nothing to reunite those families who have already been separated.
“The Keeping Families Together Act, which I introduced this week along with virtually every Democratic Member, would actually prevent children from being separated from their parents, except in extraordinary circumstances. When children must be separated, the bill would ensure that it is done under the review of an independent child welfare official, and that children are returned to their parents as quickly and as safely as possible.
“We could vote on that legislation today. But instead, we have the bill before us now. This bill turns all undocumented immigrants into criminals overnight, and it takes particular aim at families, children, workers, businesses, public safety, and our fundamental values as a nation, all at once. It is almost impressive how many bad ideas have been crammed into one comprehensive package.
“For example, it eliminates most visa categories that promote family reunification, as well as the diversity visa program, which provides residents of many countries the only method of immigrating to the U.S. It removes critical protections for unaccompanied children, and it does away with other important safeguards for children traveling with their parents.
“It would decimate the agriculture industry, and other industries that rely on immigrant labor, by requiring employers to use the E-Verify employment verification system without fixing the underlying immigration system. It would also undercut American workers by importing guest workers at drastically depressed wages.
“The bill would weaken public safety, by attacking so-called “sanctuary cities” and reducing trust between the local police and immigrant communities.
“It would also undermine our asylum system, breaking with our proud tradition of being a beacon of hope and freedom for the oppressed.
“In exchange for all of these harsh, anti-immigrant provisions, it offers the most minimal protections to Dreamers, creating a renewable temporary status with no path to citizenship, leaving them in perpetual limbo, and unable to become full members of society in the only country they have ever known.
“This is an act of extortion we cannot abide. This bill fails to repair our broken immigration system, and indeed makes it even worse.
“I urge all of my colleagues to oppose it, and I reserve the balance of my time.”
