Richmond Leader

Washington, D.C. – On May 11, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) voted against Republicans’ H.R. 2, the Child Deportation Act, to protect our immigration system and stand up against cruel, ineffective border policies.

“H.R. 2 is an extreme, unworkable piece of legislation that would cripple our ports of entry, undermine America’s asylum system, jeopardize the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children, and create chaos at the border,” said Congresswoman McClellan. “H.R. 2 is not a serious attempt to fix our nation’s immigration system; it is a draconian deportation bill that would reimplement some of the most ineffective immigration and border security policies of the previous Administration. It doubles down on construction of a pointless border wall, which still is not being paid for by Mexico; expedites child deportation and the detention of unaccompanied minors; makes it more difficult for charities, churches, and local governments to offer humanitarian aid; and makes no effort to address the flow of illegal drugs through our ports of entry.”

According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, the Child Deportation Act would cost the American people $6.1 billion. H.R. 2 would affect the legal status of about 4.4 million people who would otherwise be granted asylum and would make humanitarian parole, like what has been extended to Afghan allies and Ukrainian refugees, illegal. It would also mandate the construction of at least 900 miles of border wall, despite Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) reports which have shown new segments of border wall have been breached over 3,272 times.

“The Child Deportation Act is nothing more than Republicans’ desperate attempt to stoke culture wars and achieve their inhumane, xenophobic goals,” continued Congresswoman McClellan. “Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans are holding the American economy hostage and threatening a default due to ‘spending concerns,’ while they peddle this legislation that would end our asylum immigration system at a cost of $6.1 billion dollars. I voted no on this divisive piece of legislation, because it does nothing to improve our nation’s immigration system.”

The House passed H.R. 2 on a vote of 219 to 213.

Read a section-by-section fact sheet here.

Original source can be found here