Rep. Barry Moore on the border crisis: the federal government "sets the building on fire, and then funds the fire department”
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02) participated in a House Judiciary Committee hearing about the impact of illegal immigration on social services. The witnesses included Manuel Mello III, Fire Chief in Eagle Pass Texas, Danyela Souza Egorov, Vice President, Community Education Council for New York City School District 2, Steven Camarota, Director of Research, Center for Immigration Studies, and Gregory Chen, Senior Director of Government Relations, American Immigration Lawyers Association.
From Rep. Moore's exchange with Fire Chief Manuel Mello III:
Rep. Moore: We had 106 different nations come through Yuma, Arizona, according to Sheriff Daniels. Wouldn't you rather us do something besides send money? It's like setting a house on fire and then funding the fire department. I don't quite understand the benefit of extra money while we're setting the place on fire. So, Chief, would you rather us just secure the border and stop this flow of immigrants from all over the globe? 302,000 last month came here.
Mr. Manuel Mello: Yes, sir.
Rep. Barry Moore: I think not only just for you, sir, but the people that are dying, 150 a day, of fentanyl poisoning. I think it would be better for those families as well. There are a lot of things we can do instead of just funding the failure of this, this Department of Homeland Security and this, this executive branch that we've got that have created this issue. We want to throw more money at the problem, we create the problem, we set the building on fire, and then we fund the fire department.
From Rep. Moore's exchange with Danyela Souza Egorov:
Rep. Moore: Ms. Egorov, when you say the students at your school have severe needs, can you elaborate a little bit? I understand that our federal government has lost over 85,000 migrant children by failing to background check their sponsors.
Mrs. Egorov: Just last month a 10-year old in my district who was living at a shelter committed suicide. We don't know what that boy went through crossing the border. The federal government has provided reports, one in 2019, that specifically says how children are being raped, are being child trafficked, there's sexual violence, and even unconscious children who are used to cross the border.
Rep. Moore's full remarks can be seen here: High-res | Twitter
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