Joco Today

On May 11, 2023, Representative Sharice Davids released the following statement after Republicans in the House passed an extreme, partisan immigration proposal that would weaken the nation’s border security by diverting law enforcement resources away from preventing drug trafficking and intercepting national security threats to detaining asylum seekers and criminalizing Dreamers.

“The extreme proposals put forth by House Republicans would cut border agents and decimate our agricultural workforce at a time when we need to be increasing both—especially if we want to stop the flow of illegal fentanyl and improve labor shortages. Frankly, it is not a real solution to the challenges we are seeing at our borders. Kansans expect Congress to work together, not along party lines, to fix our broken immigration system. I am ready to work with both Republicans and Democrats on a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration plan that actually secures our border, treats children and families humanely, and addresses the fentanyl crisis—this is not it.”

Background:

Earlier this week, Davids urged the Biden Administration to work across the aisle to help pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, saying “we need a comprehensive and bipartisan solution that is smart, humane, and true to our country’s values. That must include securing and protecting our borders along with a roadmap to citizenship, especially for people who have served in our military and Dreamers.”

Davids has also hosted multiple summits with Kansas law enforcement and health care professionals on the growing threat of fentanyl, the number one cause of overdose death in the United States. As a member of the bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus, Davids supported legislative action to improve detection practices of fentanyl at U.S. borders and ports and requested funding for the purchase of 300 new handheld fentanyl detection devices used by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Original source can be found here.