Peace and love, John, Jamaal Bowman here.
This is a longer email than I usually send, but it's important, and I hope you can take some time to read it.
This past weekend, I was in Laredo, Texas, to gain a better understanding of what's happening on the ground with our immigrant friends and family. My team and I toured a Customs and Border Protection facility and met with local activists and community leaders, all in service of learning how we can better center care and support as we work to reform our immigration system.
I'm taking all the lessons I've learned with me back to my district, where about one-third of my constituents were born outside of the United States. I'm taking what I've learned back to Washington, where we'll work to advocate for a pathway to citizenship to be included in the next reconciliation package.
Local activists in Laredo are centering immigrants in their work, and Congress should follow suit. I want to explain a bit more about what I mean by that, but before I do, I need to ask if you'd be able to support my leadership and campaign for Congress.
As I previously mentioned, my main objective for my visit to Laredo was to gain a better understanding of what's happening on the ground as Congress negotiates our next reconciliation package. In addition, we're going through the appropriations process, which funds our government.
This moment has the potential to significantly shape our immigration and border policy in a way that can either provide lasting solutions or further entrenches harmful policies.
In Laredo, I heard stories of immigrants risking their lives to travel with one week old babies, crossing the Rio Grande and not eating for weeks. I visited Customs and Border Protection facilities where over 10 men who had not been tested for COVID were placed together in one small cell, even when other cells were sitting empty. I met with young adults who have been detained and had their family members deported.
It's clear that there is a level of desperation and suffering happening that must end.
Congress has the power to fix these issues, and to ensure that no one else has to endure what folks I've met with have endured. But we need to use that power, and take action to fix it now. This is one of the many moments where our bold, progressive leadership is desperately needed, and we must act.
There's so much that we need to fight for in this reconciliation package and beyond. We need to ensure that federal funding which goes to this region is focused on care and social services, not more militarization, detention and surveillance. We need pathways to citizenship that make it easier for people seeking asylum to not only come to, but stay in the U.S. We need reforms that reduce that trauma for our immigrant community.
And ultimately, John, if we are going to get serious about immigration reform, we need to abolish the filibuster. We cannot let fear-mongering Republicans control the fate of children seeking asylum when Democrats have control of the House, Senate, and White House. It is simply unacceptable to act otherwise.
Thank you,
Jamaal Bowman
