Here’s a transcript of U.S. House of Representative Jamaal Bowman on Immigration, and love your neighbor and each other. May 2023.
Yes, we do have a crisis at the border. But the crisis is not the immigrants who are coming here seeking asylum away from horrific circumstances. The crisis is the fact that we do not have comprehensive immigration reform in our country. We haven’t had it for decades, forever, really.
We don’t have a pathway to citizenship for those who must come here running away from pretty much terror in their communities. I also want to say that immigrants are the lifeblood and the engine of the American economy and our social structure.
We are strong as a nation because we are a nation of immigrants. We have been that from the very beginning and we must continue to be that. Please do not lean into the Republican fear mongering about the crisis of brown people coming to America because for them, that’s what it’s all about.
This is the great replacement, white supremacist, patriarchal, nationalist, imperial, colonial theory. This is what they are about. This is the crisis that they are spewing. News media, please don’t follow them.
Congress hasn’t done its job for comprehensive immigration reform. Congress hasn’t done its job for pathway to citizenship and to make it easier for immigrants to come here. And that’s the issue. And it hasn’t happened in ever. That’s why we are where we are now.
We have to come together, Democrats, Republicans, but even Democrats at every level of government to put our heads together, put our resources together, and make sure we take care of our brothers and sisters and family members who are coming here from other countries and then take care of each other as Americans.
Because the rhetoric, the fear, the lies, the hate got to stop. Got to stop. Love your neighbor. Love each other. Let’s build housing. Provide health care. Give people jobs. Let them work and let them uplift our economy. This is what they want to do. Let’s enrich each other’s lives. Peace, y’all. Be well. Be safe.
This is a fantastic uplifting speech. However, as long as Republican politicians and their white evangelical Christian nationalist billionaire backers keep ripping this country apart with life-ending policies that take people’s rights away and contribute to unliving our families and friends, it won’t come to fruition.
We must demand more involvement from our communities, our local governments, and our country. The more we demand, ask for, and fight for change at the top, and the more we work to change our systems FOR THE PEOPLE, the more likely we are to get it.