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This is starting in just a couple of minutes. Hang onto your hats!
Chairman @BennieGThompson starts off by castigating the trump admin for their abject failure of a border policy, and then lays out my plan for fixing it. No, seriously, he hits on all the things I've said, over and over. 😂
@BennieGThompson But what McAleenan wants is the same thing he wanted 3 weeks ago: an end to Flores so they can detain families together for months or years (which is a VERY BAD IDEA) and for unaccompanied minors to apply for asylum back in their home countries...again, VERY BAD IDEA!
JFC.
JFC.
@BennieGThompson .@RepUnderwood is on fire! She ends her questioning by basically stating that the policies of the administration that McAleenan supports have led to 5,000 children separated from their families, and 5 children dead, and she sees it as intentional.
The ranking member gets het up.
The ranking member gets het up.
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood Rogers wants her words take down, she refuses to back down, it ends up coming to a vote! And then, bc many Reps go to hearings only long enough to do their 5 minutes, but aren't there for the rest of it, there were more Repubs around than Dems. Vote was 9-7 against Ms Underwood.
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood .@RepRatcliffe from Texas thinks DHS can just "deal with Flores administratively." By writing a rule change. & McAleenan somehow agrees? And says they have a final rule pending? WTAF?
...I don't think DHS can administratively regulate away a court ruling.
Lawyers, am I wrong?
...I don't think DHS can administratively regulate away a court ruling.
Lawyers, am I wrong?
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe Aaaand then Ratcliffe goes on to accuse asylum seekers of being coached on what to say by "coyotes" and "asylum advocates." It's as if he didn't know how difficult CF Interviews are now.
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe I swear to gawd, if McAleenan says asylum is a "pull factor" one more time, I'm gonna scream.
His Fraud Squad is detecting non-parental relationships! But are they detecting the grandparental, sibling, aunt, uncle, etc. relationships that 99% of those "non-parents" are instead?
His Fraud Squad is detecting non-parental relationships! But are they detecting the grandparental, sibling, aunt, uncle, etc. relationships that 99% of those "non-parents" are instead?
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe .@RepBarragan once more with the righteous fury! Does McAleenan KNOW that pregnant women are being sent back to "remain in Mexico" in Juárez, a city SHE is not allowed to go to without prior approval bc it's so dangerous? And this is in direct contradiction to what MPP states?
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan THIS is why (among many other reasons) DHS and the administration have zero credibility with their whinging about their needs for the border wrt a wall or ending Flores, or instituting MPP or the rest of it.
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan .@RepBarragan ends with a blistering, "You just said you were proud of your record. That's a despicable thing to say. You should not be proud of a record, of having 5 children die under your watch." 🙌🙌🙌
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan Rep Green of Texas asks a question no one else has: what if we DO completely secure the border (an impossibility, but just go along.) What happens to the people who CAN'T get in? Who are fleeing violence, abject poverty, gangs, etc? These are our neighbors. What happens to them?
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan What happens when we send traumatized people back to countries ravaged by drought and drug cartels because they didn't fit some complicated notion of what asylum means to this administration?
A wall isn't going to fix a humanitarian crisis. Drones aren't going to fix that.
A wall isn't going to fix a humanitarian crisis. Drones aren't going to fix that.
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan What the heck pin is this that all the Republicans seem to be wearing today? 
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan .@RepYvetteClarke points out that DHS' budget would be better spent focused on actual threats, such as cyberterrorism, right-wing terrorists here and abroad, and on protecting the integrity of our elections from outside interference, than from the demagoguery of POTUS.*
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan @RepYvetteClarke To close out the hearing, Chairman @BennieGThompson reminds his colleagues that the Flores decision was made bc longterm detention is HARMFUL to children. That it's best practices to not detain children--especially young children--at all.
Well, that was fun! 😬
Well, that was fun! 😬
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan @RepYvetteClarke In case you want to watch the whole thing yourself--and why wouldn't you, DHS stuff is exciting! (even if GOP members grandstand and lie unabashedly)--here's the link to today's hearing of Acting DHS Sec McAleenan in front of the House Finance Committee:
@BennieGThompson @RepUnderwood @RepRatcliffe @RepBarragan @RepYvetteClarke Thank you for standing your ground, @RepUnderwood! Advocating for children is good, &this admin has *admitted* to committing heinous acts with the purpose of deterrence, which didn't work, and never would, in the face of what these refugees are fleeing.
