Asian Americans Advancing Justice: House Reconciliation Bill Cuts Vital Family Services to Fund Deportations and Abductions
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Liana Liang lliang@ajsocal.orgJames Woo media@advancingjustice-atlanta.orgGrace Pai gpai@advancingjustice-chicago.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House reconciliation bill passed by a sliver. As written, the bill proposes to strip federal funding from key services and benefits to fund a massive increase in cruel immigration enforcement, as well as to extend tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a network of four independent Asian American civil rights organizations, issues the following statement:
“We are appalled by the passage of the House reconciliation bill, which is designed to harm immigrant communities. The Representatives who voted for this bill have decided that Medicaid and the needs of everyday Americans are less important than tax cuts for the rich. This bill will restrict eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP, and other key benefits that the most vulnerable in our communities depend upon. Among its other harmful policies, the bill will also allocate $150 billion of mostly unrestricted funding to inhumane immigration enforcement and policies, including a massive increase of detention and deportation of immigrants. The bill’s provisions would enable the erosion of due process for those caught up in the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.
“Two-thirds of Asian Americans–some 12 million individuals–are immigrants, with about 1.7 million people being undocumented. According to our estimates, one in three noncitizen Asian Americans is undocumented, with approximately 800,000 Asian American children living with at least one undocumented parent. The bill’s reduction in critical services and increase in immigration enforcement will disproportionately impact our community.
“This is a concern not just for immigrant Asian Americans and their loved ones, but for all Americans. This Administration has shown a frightening penchant for lawlessness, and more funding for agencies that have already engaged in alarming enforcement practices like organized abductions will only increase the risk for Asian Americans as a whole.
“We need laws that address affordability, housing, healthcare, and the economy, not bills that allocate funding for the erosion of our civil liberties and diminished quality of life. We urge the Senate to reject this harmful reconciliation bill and focus instead on the real problems facing all Americans.”
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