Thread by @AbayaMiriam

Watching @HomelandDems hearing with Secretary Mayorkas today. homeland.house.gov/activities/hea…

Rep. @BennieGThompson asked about children separated from children. Sec. Mayorkas said the effort to find parents is a "all of government effort" and working to restore our nation to core principles and values.

Asked about equity in the vaccine, Sec. Mayorkas speaks about how equity is a core value for the department. Hope to see that value applied to Haitian children and families who have faced expulsion and who need TPS. #TPSForHaiti

Rep. @JacksonLeeTX18: "this administration has a border policy. It is not a policy that puts children in cages." Asking Sec. Mayorkas to lay out that policy. He says "the border is not open," and referencing CDC order expelling asylum seekers under "public health authority."

Note: public health experts have clearly laid out that there is no valid public health basis for the CDC order. Under the current Title 42 expulsions, children in families are still being expelled, including 270 Haitian children with families in February alone.

Rep. @RepMcCaul states that he believes deterrence works. We know this is not the case--after family separation, MPP, and multiple other Trump admin policies in 2019, asylum seeking families and children continued to flee harm. When the house is burning, people will flee.

Sec. Mayorkas: Sometimes deterrence means using violating values for which we all stand. "A crisis is ripping a 9 year old child from their parent." Exactly. A border policy protect that children's safety and wellbeing is one that #WelcomesWithDignity and is orderly.

Reminder for Rep. Higgins: seeking asylum at the border is legal, and is a right provided by our laws and our international obligations. Our laws also require specific protections for unaccompanied children. Doing anything other than what our laws require undermines rule of law.

The exact quote:

https://twitter.com/StefWKight/status/1372196035649495040

Have to head to another meeting, but no matter what else is said in this hearing, here's what I know: The guiding principle for border policy should be the question, "what is good for kids?"

If that question guides us, Title 42 would end, anti-Black racism would no longer deny Black asylum seekers access to protection, and our border system would require reform to in order to be child-friendly, welcoming, and functional.