Rep. Omar's Statement on U.S. - Mexico Border Wall

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement following reports of the Biden Administration's plans to extend the border wall.

“I urge the President to reconsider the decision to possibly erect a border wall in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. 

“We will not defeat the rise in Trumpism, xenophobia and white nationalism by trying to erect more barriers to the migrants coming to our shores and borders. We will not defeat it through detention, deportation, or fear. 

“We will defeat it by abiding by international law that requires us to welcome asylum seekers fleeing persecution. We will defeat it by investing in diplomacy and aid in the unstable regions fueling displacement—not through punitive sanctions. 

“We will defeat it by embracing our values as a beacon of hope to migrants and refugees from around the world. We will defeat it by welcoming the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. 

“It is true that these funds were appropriated in 2019 under Donald Trump. It is true that House Republicans have blocked any possible legislative action on immigration, while engaging in near-constant hateful fear-mongering around refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.

“However, it is also true that the law does not require the waiving of dozens of federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act to build this wall.

“The human rights crisis at the U.S. border—and even more acutely in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela—will not be solved with more walls. Walls only punish the victims, sending them back to the very violence they are fleeing. It will only be solved by addressing the root causes of migration, and creating a country and a world that values the life of every single human being.”