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Rep. Ilhan Omar Statement on Border Supplemental Bill

June 25, 2019

WASHINGTON– Today, Rep. Ilhan Omar issued the following statement on H.R. 3401, a $4.5 billion emergency border supplemental appropriations bill:

"How do we want to be remembered? That is what this vote to fund Trump's deportation squads is about. For years, America has called on other countries around the world to welcome people and treat them with dignity. Three years ago, speaking at the United Nations, President Obama called the global migrant crisis ‘a test of our common humanity.' ‘Just as failure to act in the past is a stain on our collective conscience,' he said. ‘I believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment.'

"Right now, we are not rising to the moment. Children are dying at the hands of our own government. Thousands are being held indefinitely in cages. They're being forced to sleep on the floor, and denied basic necessities like soap and toothpaste.

"Throwing more money at the very organizations committing human rights abuses—and the very Administration directing these human rights abuses—is not a solution. This is a humanitarian crisis—a humanitarian crisis inflicted by our own leadership. It's also a refugee crisis fueled by state violence, corruption, and impunity in the Northern Triangle--one that this Administration has only fueled through mass deportation and slashing aid.

"If this were any other country, we would rightfully be calling this an atrocity and demanding accountability from the international community. That should be our response today as responsible legislators. It is time to engage international aid organizations—including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—to assist in the delivery of aid to displaced persons and address this humanitarian crisis.

"And for that reason, I plan to vote NO on this package."