CORREA VOTES AGAINST ANOTHER BLANK CHECK FOR ICE

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Representative Lou Correa (CA-46) voted against the Republican reconciliation bill, which provides another $70 billion for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-including $38.5 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection-and released the following statement:

"Today, Congressional Republicans voted to give an additional $70 billion to DHS, an agency Republicans gave over $170 billion to just last year without any guardrails. Departments like ICE have already been operating with over seven times their usual budget, acting recklessly and making our communities less safe," said Rep. Correa. "DHS and ICE need safeguards, not more money."

"Before voting against the bill, I submitted three common-sense amendments to help make sure DHS does not harm our public safety or target contributing members of our community. However, Republicans refused to consider any of the three amendments.

"The first amendment would have prevented funds from the bill from being used for ICE to detain and remove veterans, absent convictions for violent crimes and terrorism. We owe it to our veterans to protect them, as they have bravely fought to protect all Americans.

"The next amendment would have prevented funds from being used to arrest or detain individuals for immigration offenses as they come forward to local law enforcement to report a crime, assist a prosecution or investigation, or serve as a witness in a criminal proceeding. This helps keep everyone in our community safe by ensuring that people, regardless of their immigration status, are willing to report crimes and support investigations.

My third amendment is identical to my Honor Our Commitment Act, which would prohibit the deportation of Vietnamese refugees who came to the U.S. before 1995, when relations between the U.S. and Vietnam were normalized. Congress must protect those refugees-many of whom fought alongside our troops in the war and would be at risk if forced to return home to a country they left decades ago."