Politics

Democratic Congressmen Accuse Paul Ryan Of Political Stunt For Calling For Vote On THEIR ‘Abolish ICE’ Bill — Say They’ll Vote No

US-Mexico-Nogales-Border | Circa June 2005 | By Darkros at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Three Democratic congressmen declared on Thursday that they will vote “no” on their own legislation if House Speaker Paul Ryan puts their bill on the floor.

Reps. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Adriano Espaillat of New York introduced the Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement Act earlier Thursday, which would abolish ICE within one year of enactment, and also assemble a commission tasked with setting up a new immigration enforcement agency.

Hours later, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced he planned to bring the proposed “Abolish ICE” bill to the floor, reported The Hill.

The three congressmen promptly released a joint statement accusing Ryan of not taking their bill seriously, and as an act of protest, they will vote down their own legislation and instead use the opportunity to discuss Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy and ICE.

“We know Speaker Ryan is not serious about passing our ‘Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act,’ so members of Congress, advocacy groups, and impacted communities will not engage in this political stunt.”

Story coming soon. pic.twitter.com/4xgpBAMsGr

— Ella Nilsen (@ella_nilsen) July 12, 2018

Despite failing to support their own legislation, the statement concluded by saying “we look forward to the day that we have meaningful action on the issues covered by our bill.”

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