WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) issued the following statement after the House voted to keep the federal government open:
“Today, the House voted to prevent a government shutdown after the President’s last tantrum held 800,000 federal workers hostage for over a month over an unpopular and immoral campaign promise.
“With this deal, Democrats held the line in denying the President the $5.7 billion he demanded for his wall, and maintained previous language that limited the construction and scope of the wall that he requested. However, we share the concerns of many of our colleagues in border districts who know that our border is more secure than ever, and that walls and border barriers are simply not the answer.
“We oppose the President’s attempt to build his vanity wall by declaring a national emergency. The only crisis at our border is the one President Trump manufactured through his inhumane policies of family separation and limiting access to asylum by turning back asylum-seekers at the border.
“We are deeply concerned by the refusal of President Trump, House Republicans, and the Senate to include any accountability for wasteful detention-bed increases. House Democrats were blocked from including appropriate limits on Trump’s mass-deportation-and-detention force, or necessary limits on the ability of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to transfer more money from disaster-relief funding to activities unauthorized by Congress.
“We are watching the Trump administration closely. If DHS tries to go around Congress to increase immigration detention and enforcement, either by transfer, reprogramming, or other measures, we will hold them accountable. We will pursue immediate oversight hearings in response to any attempt by the agency to defy congressional mandates.
“As we work towards Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations, it is critical that we ensure robust accountability of DHS, including limiting the agency’s transfer authority, and dramatically reducing the number of people that are held in detention. We must utilize proven alternatives to detention, including community-based alternatives and parole, for the vast majority of people who are held in detention and pose no public-safety or flight risk. ICE’s overuse of detention is both expensive and cruel, and it must end.”
###
