Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) provided a critical vote to help deliver the passage of H.R. 2, also known as the Child Deportation Act, in early May 2023. The bill is not a serious policy proposal for addressing the challenges at the border. It’s all politics that is far too often laced with rhetorical echos of white nationalist conspiracies that create the climate for hate-fueled violence.
Over the months where it wound its way through the House and from the very beginning of the debate over the Child Deportation Act on the House floor, Bacon’s Republican colleagues promoted the bill with white nationalist conspiracy theories about “replacement” and “invasion” that have inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks.
Bacon has previously stated his support for creating “a safer clear legal pathway to emigrate to our country,” a pathway to permanent status for DACA recipients, and support for people seeking safer lives in the U.S. “For many immigrants, our country is a safe haven from the violence, poverty, and corruption they are genuinely fleeing from in their home countries, and we are seen all over the world as the ‘Land of the Free’ and the ‘Land of Opportunity.’” But H.R. 2 accomplishes none of this.
In his statement supporting H.R. 2, Bacon talks about the urgent fentanyl crisis, but H.R.2 does not help tackle the issue, and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous at best.
Bacon sided with the extremists and obstructionists. Bacon provided a critical vote to gut asylum, increase child and family detention, and create a show-me-your-papers scenario in the midst of future natural disaster relief efforts. Beyond cruelty, this bill does nothing to create solutions. Its centerpiece is, again, Trump’s wasteful and ineffective wall. Meanwhile, the GOP legislation would destroy legal pathways, including parole programs that create new legal pathways to the U.S. that alleviate pressures at the border.
Actions speak louder than words, and Bacon chose party over the communities and businesses he represents.
