Reunite Every Child Immediately

Floor Speech

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Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, today is the deadline for the Trump administration to reunite more than 2,500 children with their families. It is clear to me that they are not going to make this deadline.

Hundreds of parents have been deported without their children. HHS has not been able to identify the parents of nearly 100 children.

Even when the administration reunites children and parents, there is only chaos and confusion:

Reunifications are occurring in parking lots in the middle of the night;

Parents are not being informed of their rights and are desperately giving up their chance to stay in this country. They don't have access to lawyers;

After reunification, there is no rationale in deciding which families are released and which are sent to detention centers.

This entire process is unacceptable and abhorrent. That is why I am introducing legislation to immediately appoint a single authority to oversee reunification across the government. We need someone to effectively manage this process.

No more excuses. No more delays. Mr. Speaker, we have to reunite every child immediately.

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