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Congress Democrats sharply lash out at GOP bill to halt immigration

Washington, May 11 (Prensa Latina) Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on Thursday echoed her democratic colleagues´ criticism of the GOP bill by casting it as a product of extreme Republicans´ cruel, unworkable immigration policy. “This bill is an adoption of the failed Trump-era policies that call for the criminalization of the right to seek asylum,” Barragán said during a press conference.

She argued the bill pursues the hiring and training of 22,000 Border Patrol agents and seeks to force the Homeland Security Secretary to resume construction of the border wall.

Barragán argued that the bill is a “political stunt” that “falls so short, so short, on who we are as a nation.”

“It’s anti-immigrant. It’s anti-Latino, and it’s anti-American,” she said. “It’s time for a comprehensive immigration reform that’s humane, that expands legal pathways for migration, protects your dreamers and addresses the root causes of migration.”

The U.S. is set to lift Title 42, the pandemic-era restriction that expelled migrants immediately without an asylum hearing, at just before midnight Thursday. The expiration of the policy is expected to draw more migrants and slow down processing times for migrants in Border Patrol custody.

While it is expected to be passed by the conservative caucus, majority in the Lower House, the GOP bill is unlikely to become law due to Democrats´ opposition and the announcement that the White House would veto it.

The Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated in social networks there is now a huge presence of migrants in Mexican cities close to the United States, and that such figures are expected to ramp up given the proximity of the end of Title 42.

Previously, Mayorkas warned that Title 42 expiration means no the border is open.

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