Chicago City Wire

Washington, DC -During a Homeland Security hearing this week, Vice Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee (CHS) Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) pushed back on the attempts of Republicans to further criminalize the right to seek asylum and hate-driven misinformation about the current legal process for migrants to claim asylum at the border. While questioning high-ranking U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) representatives, Congresswoman Ramirez highlighted the right asylum seekers have to due process and the importance of protecting this right to save the lives of children and other migrants like her younger sister Iris, who crossed the border unaccompanied at just 12 years old. 

"I personally know clearly what people are escaping. And so I know that if Iris, my little sister, would have been deported immediately; if ICE had come to the school and deported Iris, she would have died within a month in Guatemala at the age of 12," said Vice Ranking Member Congresswoman Ramirez. "So I actually have to push back on the other side and say that seeking asylum is not a crime. That is what many of our families have done. Maybe they did it now. Maybe they're doing it on June 7, . Maybe they did it 100 years ago."

The Congresswoman from Illinois' 3rd Congressional District also questioned the efforts of the agency to ensure that asylum seekers have their claims heard after reports that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is actively conducting credible fear interviews that appear intended for fast-tracking deportation and undermining access to legal counsel. 

The hearing titled "Examining DHS' Failure to Prepare for the Termination of Title 42" included the testimonies of the CBP Acting Deputy Commissioner Benjamine "Carry" Huffman and DHS Border and Immigration Policy Assistant Secretary Blas Nuñez-Neto.

For her complete line of questioning and witnesses' responses, click HERE. 

Original source can be found here.