Statement From Congressman Horsford On House Vote To Provide Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) released the statement below following the U.S. House Of Representatives' vote to provide humanitarian assistance—including food, shelter, and medical services—to detainees at the southern border.

"The situation unfolding at the southern border is, without question, a humanitarian crisis. Children are being taken from their parents' arms; at least six of those children have died in the care of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Facilities lack basic necessities including toothbrushes, blankets or soap.

The supplemental funding passed yesterday is one of many steps I have taken to support sensible border security and keep families together. Creating chaos at the border neither strengthens our national security nor respects the basic human dignity of these families in detention. There are sensible steps we can take to fix our immigration system that does not include building a wall or treating these detained people as less-than-human."

This supplemental bill works to protect families, not further the policies put in place by the Trump administration to tear them apart. This legislation provides urgently-needed funding for food, shelter, clothing, medical care and legal assistance. It also places strict limits on influx shelters, relieving the horrific overcrowding, and creates a strong oversight process by Congress to protect children being held at the border alone.

Congressman Horsford has a record of supporting strong, smart, and effective border security and is continuing to work in Congress to keep families united and offer a pathway to citizenship.

In January, Congressman Horsford supported a House-passed measure to strengthen our ports of entry—the locations where the vast majority of drugs, and weapons enter the country. The bill allocated funds for contraband scanning technology and an increase in customs personnel, as well as advanced technology to detect unauthorized crossings. It also included money for immigration judges to reduce the backlog of immigration cases.

This year, Congressman Horsford was an original co-sponsor of the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, a landmark bill that will create a path to citizenship for dreamers and protect Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients from being forced to leave the country they love.

During his previous term in the House, Congressman Horsford was an original co-sponsor of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act—a bipartisan, comprehensive reform bill that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and strengthened border security.

Congressman Horsford's fight for the dignity of those at the border will not end with this funding package; he will continue to push Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that will strengthen our national security, stop the separation of families and protect Nevada's immigrant communities.