Carbajal: this bill would have funded ‘screening for deadly fentanyl for the past 100 days, if only Republicans would have brought this bill up for a vote’
[On Friday], Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) called on Republican leadership to bring up for a vote the bipartisan border security and immigration package filibustered by Senate Republicans 100 days ago today.
“Week after week, Congressional Republicans have brought forward toothless, do-nothing resolutions attacking the President,” said Rep. Carbajal. “But when my colleagues across the aisle were presented with a bipartisan bill to actually tackle the chaos at our southern border, crack down on fentanyl trafficking, and begin to fix our broken immigration system; they said ‘this is not our problem to solve.’”
The Congressman’s full speech can be viewed here.
Congressman Carbajal is a Vice Chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Immigration and Border Security Task Force, and has been a leader in both calling for a vote on the border security package and crafting a framework for reforms to the U.S. immigration system.
Rep. Carbajal and the Task Force rolled out their vision for bipartisan immigration and border security reform in February, and have repeatedly called on Congressional Republicans to work across the aisle to make progress on reforming U.S. immigration policy.
Rep. Carbajal immigrated to the United States when he was five years old from Mexico. His father worked as a farmworker in Ventura County, where Carbajal joined him in the summers growing up to help pick the vegetables that feed the nation and the world.
As someone who came to the United States when its immigration system worked, he has worked diligently to find common ground to implement commonsense immigration solutions.
He is one of the leading voices behind the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would provide stability and fairness for farmworkers and address workforce shortages in the agriculture industry.
He also is the author of the bipartisan Protect Patriot Parents Act, which would make parents of U.S. military servicemembers eligible to adjust for Lawful Permanent Resident status, preventing potential deportations or separations of military families.
He is also a cosponsor and champion of the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, which would permanently codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for the nearly 800,000 young people who came to the United States as children.
Congressman Carbajal’s remarks as prepared for delivery can be found below:
“Mister Speaker, I rise today to remind this chamber and our nation that it is has been one hundred days since Congressional Republicans blocked a bipartisan bill to restore order at the border and reduce backlogs in our immigration system.
Week after week, Congressional Republicans have brought forward toothless, do-nothing resolutions attacking the President.
But when my colleagues across the aisle were presented with a bipartisan bill to actually tackle the chaos at our southern border, crack down on fentanyl trafficking, and begin to fix our broken immigration system; they said: ‘this is not our problem to solve.’
This is a bill that would have hired nearly 2,000 new border personnel and immigration judges.
It would have streamlined our asylum system, making the process faster and fairer.
It would have funded new inspection machines; that could have been screening for deadly fentanyl for the past 100 days; if only Republicans would have brought this bill up for a vote.
Mr. Speaker: actions speak louder than words.
100 days is already too long to wait.
Let’s vote on that bill today.”
Rep. Salud Carbajal represents California’s 24th Congressional District, encompassing Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County. He is a member of the Agriculture and Armed Services Committees, as well as the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he serves as the top Democrat on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.
GOLETAJOKE – what is a “PS?” Also, no one is “invading” our country any more than we invaded this land hundreds of years ago. Stop they hysterics.
On Biden’s first day in office, he used his presidential authority to strike down most of Trump’s border policies. This unleashed a torrent of people entering our country illegally, and it has continued on a scale that we have never seen before.
Now, Democrats like Salud are trying to flip the script by blaming Republicans. Biden had the presidential authority to remove border policies and he has the presidential authority to replace them. Politicians must think we are as dumb as rocks, and unfortunately, in many cases, they are not wrong.
People should ask themselves, why did Biden change policies that worked in order to flood our country with millions of undocumented, unvetted, unvaccinated people? The inescapable conclusion is, future votes.
Are referencing Biden repealing the Trump administration policies that separated migrant children from their parents and stored them in jail-like cages without basic necessities then took months to reunite them with their parents, if they ever did… is that the policy you’re referring to?
Your comment is also completely ignoring the BIPARTISAN immigration bill that would have been more strict than trump’s policies but GOP lackey Mike Johnson refused to bring to a vote because it would have overwhelmingly passed and Trump ordered him to do this so Biden didn’t have a win on immigration reform.
No administration, GOP or Dem, has ever solved immigration but one party continues to use this talking point as a weapon to scare and infuriate dim-witted Americans.
SBsurfer are you referring to the cages the “Deporter in Chief” Barak Obama built? Speaking of kids, the Center for Immigration Studies (https://cis.org/Arthur/Biden-Administration-Lost-Yes-Lost-Nearly-20000-Migrant-Children) states the Biden administration has lost track of nearly 20,000 kids.
Bi-partisan bill? Four Republicans voted for it. 4! Again, there is no need for it. Joe has the presidential authority to shut down the border NOW.
Again, what reasonable explanation do you have for why Biden opened the border?
ANON – how do you know they were “unvaccinated?” Also, aren’t those the type of folks you Trump folks love?
Seriously? Why would anyone believe they were vaccinated? I am just pointing out the hypocrisy. People were fired for not being vaccinated, kids were kept out of school, and so on, yet it’s perfectly OK to let people enter our country with no background checks, let alone having no idea if they were vaccinated or not.
Again, what is the reasonable explanation for why Biden opened the border?
If you think the border is open, please try crossing it, and get back to us.
Con social media bubbles promote these fallacies about an open border to cater to the fascist anti-immigrant stances of rethuglicans.
Try becoming a Mexican National and get back to me.
Libs love to say this type of BS and still never leave the US.
“Why would anyone believe they were vaccinated?” – Because contrary to your apparent beliefs, they’re not uneducated animals, they’re people too and those with a brain most likely got vaccinated. Or wait, are you saying you really believe Latin American countries don’t have the vaccine?
Either way, the ignorance is astounding.
Let’s use Guatemala as an example. It’s the most populated country in Central America. According to John’s Hopkins, 49.75 of the population received at least one dose. So, it’s safe to assume that half of the people from this country who may have crossed the border were vaccinated.
Again, what is a reasonable explanation for why Biden opened the border?
ANON – cool “proof.” Lol
The border is not open. Stop parroting that moronic lie.
But, here’s one for you: why so worried about the covid vax? You folks don’t believe it works and we all know it doesn’t really stop the spread, so again…. why do you care?
Also…is that you, VOICE?
Apparently you choose to ignore the fact that many countries have much better public health systems than we do, even less prosperous countries.
The border is open and currently most illegals are now coming into California by land or ocean. Few persons are getting vetted and “families” who have children who have been seen to cross with other “families”.
The objective is to flood the country with people who don’t give a crap about our laws, let alone our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights.
GETTHE – wow golly! Good thing none of that is actually true! Maybe take a break from Parler?
How would you know? when is the last time you went to Mexico> Never?
I’ve been to Mexico plenty, but that is completely irrelevant to understanding that everything GETTHECHANGEUP is crying about. The border is not open. FACT. There is no “objective” other than to seek a better life, just like your ancestors did.
There’s already more than enough people that “give a crap about our laws, let alone our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights.” We all saw them on Jan 6 and every Trump rally you go to.
my bad, meant to say “completely irrelevant to understanding that everything GETTHECHANGEUP is crying about is false.”
“The objective is to flood the country with people who don’t give a crap about our laws, let alone our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights.”
I didn’t realize that Mexico is full of Republicans.
Most excellent reply!
DALGORF for the win!
I agree. Dalgorf for the win. Everyone needs to get at least one “win” in their life, even if it’s just on a website. You go Dalgorf!
Just jealous
Your win was haranguing spleenless double cancer survivor Jerry Roberts about wearing a mask. It’s been all downhill for you ever since.
BASIC – we can all make up our professional and academic wins here, but those don’t mean squat, especially when we get caught lying about them. Don’t be mad….. Dalgorf has bested you, that’s all.