WASHINGTON, DC – A Florida lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives called on fellow lawmakers to remove the Statue of Liberty during a hearing on immigration earlier this week.
That House committee hearing — dubbed “The Biden Administration’s Regulatory and Policymaking Efforts to Undermine U.S. Immigration Law” — discussed H.R. 2, also known as the “Secure the Border Act.”
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The bill was passed through the House in May, and it seeks to resume the construction of a wall along the U.S. southern border, along with other reforms aimed at slowing the unprecedented number of border crossings.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., the youngest member of Congress, lambasted the bill as “bigoted” during the hearing.
During his criticisms, he invoked Emma Lazarus’s poem “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” posted at the Statue of Liberty, accusing proponents of H.R. 2 of being hypocrites.
Afterward, he pulled out a draft bill, which he said would remove the Statue of Liberty.
“Don’t welcome immigrants if you plan to reject them,” Frost said. “If you keep pushing your bigoted H.R. 2 bill, then also pass this bill. I’ve taken the liberty of drafting it for you. It removes the Statue of Liberty, our largest symbol that tells people to come here.”
In response, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., discussed the dangers faced by migrants attempting to cross the U.S. border.
During his response, Waltz pointed to comments made by U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, a Florida judge who previously blocked the Biden administration’s policy to release asylum seekers into the U.S. before their cases are finished in immigration court.
According to Waltz, Wetherell had criticized the policies as being “akin to posting a flashing ‘Come In, We’re Open’ sign on the southern border.”
“Doctors Without Borders and International NGOs say 40% of the girls and women making this transit — that we’ve essentially invited them to do — are being sexually assaulted and abused...” he said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., introduced the “Secure the Border Act” into the U.S. Senate in September, along with an amendment in December.
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