WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall shared the stories of two hardworking DREAMers from Santa Fe and Belen, N.M. in a speech from the Senate floor. His remarks came just after voting against beginning debate on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which he said unfairly targets young undocumented immigrants.
Congress must pass a DHS funding bill before Feb. 27 or DHS will shut down. Out of anger at President Obama's immigration policies, Republicans have proposed legislation with harsh anti-immigrant penalties and threatened to block DHS funding - including programs that are critical for New Mexico - if their proposals are not passed into law. One such reform Republicans oppose would legalize the immigration status of undocumented youth with no criminal record who were brought to the United States as children -- if they finish school or join the military. These children are also called DREAMers, after the DREAM Act, a bill Udall has supported for many years.
Udall urged senators to fund DHS without penalizing DREAMers, to allow amendments, and to enact a bill that Congress and the president can agree to.
"We may disagree on the specifics of immigration reform, but these DREAMers have earned our admiration," Udall said after sharing the stories of two DREAMers, Mabel Arellenes of Santa Fe and Alejandro Rivera of Belen, who have both worked hard in school and in their communities despite their immigration status. "They should not be pushed back into the shadows by the House deportation bill, and the men and women who work to keep us safe-who screen more than a million people a day through our ports of entry, who patrol our borders and help secure our communities-they should not be a bargaining chip. In New Mexico, we believe homeland security should be a priority-not a talking point."
Udall also discussed the impact that shutting down DHS would have on national security, jobs and the economy. Border Patrol agents, Transportation Security Administration officers, and law enforcement training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Artesia, N.M., all would be harmed by a shutdown, and New Mexico's communities would be left less safe.
"As a New Mexican, I am appalled that a DHS shutdown is even being considered," Udall continued in his remarks. "We cannot risk our national security, our community safety, and our border commerce just so that Republicans can prove some sort of inside-the-beltway point about how angry they are about immigration reform. The House Republican bill threatens to deport millions of people who have been living and working and going to school in our country for many years. The Senate should choose a different route: put a clean bill on the floor, allow an open amendment debate and enact a bill the President can sign before any shutdown occurs."
Below are Udall's remarks as prepared for delivery.
Mr. President, I have come to the floor today to talk about how important it is for us to pass a clean appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. And I want to talk about how failing to pass a bill will impact the Southern border, including my state, where DHS plays a vital role in security, in business and in people's daily lives.
The men and women at DHS make sure commerce is conducted smoothly across our border with Mexico. They make sure workers can get back and forth. They inspect shipments coming into the country. They protect our communities from drug smugglers and crime.
It is inconceivable to me that Republicans would threaten to stop funding this agency over a policy dispute with the president.
I had heard Republican leaders say that the era of shutdown showdowns were over, but here we are again, rapidly approaching the date when DHS funding expires. We need an appropriations bill that does not disrupt this important work.
I talk to New Mexicans who live in border communities. I talk to ranchers and farmers in my state. Border security is not theoretical. It is not a political game. It is crucial to safety. It is crucial to trade at our ports of entry like Santa Teresa and Columbus.
In New Mexico, a shutdown of DHS is a threat to our security, to jobs and to our economy. I've read some reports where congressional Republicans have said on the record that a delay in funding DHS wouldn't be a big deal. They say most of the department's employees are considered essential, so they would still be working at our borders and screening airline passengers.
That may be true, but those employees wouldn't get paid. I'm not willing to tell our Border Patrol agents and TSA officers with families to feed that they still need to go to work but we aren't going to pay you because Washington can't get its act together.
I know my constituents would feel a lot more secure in border communities if Border Patrol officers were getting paid, rather than worrying about their mortgages, car payments, tuition payments and other household expenses.
And despite the Republicans' claims that DHS won't actually shut down, there would be significant consequences if Congress fails to fund DHS.
Consider what would happen to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. FLETC serves as the law enforcement training academy for 96 federal agencies. The FLETC in Artesia, New Mexico, trains all of our Border Patrol agents and Bureau of Indian Affairs police officers.
If we fail to fund DHS, FLETC training grinds to a halt. This will impact every federal agency whose law enforcement officers must complete basic training before they can be deployed to their posts of duty. A delay in training them impacts securing the nation's borders; aviation security; protecting our nation's leaders and diplomats; securing federal buildings; and countless other federal law enforcement activities.
And the economic impact is huge. Over 3,000 students - 350 of them in Artesia - are expected to be in training at the end of February. If DHS isn't funded, they have to go home. This will cost about $2.4 million in airfare to send the students back to their agencies, and then turn around and fly them back to FLETC when Congress does its job and funds DHS.
Regardless of your views on immigration policy, wasting law enforcement's time and taxpayer money does not improve our security.
And Artesia isn't a big city. Its economy relies on FLETC. The students spend their money at local businesses. Many residents are contract employees at the facility. If FLETC closes, it has a real impact.
As a New Mexican, I am appalled that a DHS shutdown is even being considered. We cannot risk our national security, our community safety, and our border commerce just so that Republicans can prove some sort of inside the beltway point about how angry they are about immigration reform.
The House Republican bill threatens to deport millions of people who have been living and working and going to school in our country for many years. The Senate should choose a different route: put a clean bill on the floor, allow an open amendment debate and enact a bill the President can sign before any shutdown occurs.
Few states understand the importance of comprehensive immigration reform like New Mexico. We need a system that secures our borders, that strengthens families, and that supports our economy.
In fact, we almost had just that. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill in the last Congress but House Republicans let it die. That bill was not perfect. It did not satisfy everyone in every case, but that is what compromise means. That is what bipartisan effort requires.
Due to the House's failure to act on immigration reform, over 40,000 people in my state live in immigration limbo. All the while, they work and raise families. Deporting these children and families is not a realistic option. We need to focus limited resources-as the president has done-on securing the border. We need to go after drug dealers, gang members and potential terrorists.
And Mr. President, I and so many other New Mexicans are appalled that Republicans want to take out their anger on DREAMers. They will not commit to real reform, but they will commit to chasing down children-innocent children brought to this country by their parents.
These are inspiring young people in my state. They have worked hard. They have persevered. They know and love this country as their own.
They are young leaders like Mabel Arellanes, who came to Santa Fe with her mother from Mexico when she was just 6 years old. Mabel graduated from Capital High School. Her dream was to go on to college, but her immigration status made that impossible. From the age of 15, Mabel worked to help other DREAMers. She helped pass the New Mexico Dream Act. Mabel eventually did get to college and graduated from the University of New Mexico with honors. She is in her second year of law school now.
This is Alejandro Rivera, another DREAMer. He moved to Belen, New Mexico, when he was 7 years old. After high school, Alejandro enrolled at the University of New Mexico. Undocumented, he could not get financial aid. He and his mother worked hard to pay the tuition. Alejandro also volunteered to help other young people get an education and to follow their dreams too. He is at work now on his Ph.d. in education.
We may disagree on the specifics of immigration reform, but these DREAMers have earned our admiration. They should not be pushed back into the shadows by the House deportation bill, and the men and women who work to keep us safe-who screen more than a million people a day through our ports of entry, who patrol our borders and help secure our communities-they should not be a bargaining chip. In New Mexico, we believe homeland security should be a priority-not a talking point.
Secretary Johnson at DHS has been very clear. Key security initiatives are left waiting, and his predecessors have also been very clear. Last week, all three of the former DHS secretaries-two of whom are Republican-sent a letter to Senate leadership urging them to pass a clean funding bill.
We live in a dangerous world. We face terrorist threats at home and abroad. Recent events make that very clear. Now is not the time to play politics with homeland security. In fact, there never is a right time for that.
The American people are watching. The people of my state are watching. They are watching these games. What they see is a lot of sound and fury that leads nowhere. What they want is a government that works.
