Congresswoman Ramirez Condemns CHS Republicans' Persecution of Civil Society

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) released the following statement on Homeland Security Committee Republicans targeting and intimidating more than 200 civil society organizations, including religious groups, charities, and community-based groups, lawfully providing support to their communities, including immigrants and asylum-seekers. 

“It is deeply unacceptable that my Republican colleagues on the Committee for Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee launched a probe targeting 212 organizations across the country who assist immigrants and meet their basic needs. 

I have said it before: terror is the point. Cruelty is the point. Fear is the point. The abuses of military power by the Department of Homeland Security and the Administration, the attacks on sitting Members of Congress and Senators performing their oversight duties, the 48 hour deployment notices for ICE Special Response Teams to our cities and now threatening letters to civil society - each action is intended to lay siege to the people and organizations in our communities that will defend our rights. Their goal is to suppress dissent against their illegal, unconstitutional actions. 

Let them be reminded since they seem to be confused about what is legal and what is not: crossing a border to the United States to request the opportunity to apply for asylum is LEGAL. Adjusting your status, if you have a pathway to do so, is LEGAL. Supporting immigrants to apply for asylum, TPS, Parole, and other forms of relief is LEGAL. Supporting people to become citizens is LEGAL. Helping refugees integrate into our communities is LEGAL. And, even if they don’t like it, making sure our neighbors know their constitutional rights is LEGAL. 

The actions of Republicans on CHS unlawfully target organizations standing against their authoritarian power grab. An attack on civil society is an attack on us all. We must dissent.”