Statement
Published on May 15, 2024
May 15, 2024
The undersigned organizations strongly oppose reported plans by Leader Schumer and Senate leadership to bring the failed Lankford-Murphy immigration bill, any of its components or paired with other bills, to the floor for a vote.
Immigrant communities and allied national organizations stood together in condemning this bill when it went to vote earlier this year. At that time, Senator Schumer, Senator Murphy and other leaders repeatedly stated that they supported the legislation as a forced compromise because of the challenging politics around aid for Ukraine. Now, aid for Ukraine is not an issue. Sending this harmful and counterproductive bill to vote, again, constitutes a deep betrayal of immigrant communities.
Among many concerns, this bill would, for the first time ever, allow the U.S. government to deny people the opportunity to apply for asylum at our border simply based on border apprehension numbers. Instead of supporting a proposal that would exacerbate the challenges at the border, we need Congressional leaders to invest in increasing processing capacity to meet humanitarian and operational needs. Leader Schumer and other elected officials called similar proposals extremist, inhumane, and a betrayal of our nation’s values during the Trump administration.
We urge Democratic leadership to fulfill their promise to immigrant communities and to the values we should and must uphold as a country: values of freedom, family, and dignity. Our country can welcome people with dignity and respect and offer permanent protections to those who have suffered for years at the hands of inhumane immigration policies. People seeking safety and immigrant communities are not political pawns. We urge Leader Schumer to ensure that Members are not forced to take another vote on this harmful bill.
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