Freshman Rep. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) 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, Ciscomani’s Republican colleagues promoted the bill with white nationalist conspiracy theories about “replacement” and “invasion” that have inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks.
Ciscomani has touted his personal history as an example of the American Dream. During his Spanish-language rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address this year, Ciscomani, a Mexican immigrant, shared that he’s twice sworn an oath to the U.S. Constitution, The Arizona Republic reported. The first was when he became a U.S. citizen, and the second when he became a member of the U.S. Congress. In supporting this draconian legislation, he categorically denies asylum-seekers legally seeking protection their chance at the American Dream.
In his statement supporting H.R. 2, Ciscomani again asserted his own immigrant heritage and falsely asserted the “bill is a step away from the chaos we are seeing and a step closer to helping others achieve the American Dream I’ve been so blessed to live.” In reality, H.R. 2 would do the exact opposite.
Ciscomani sided with the extremists and obstructionists. Ciscomani 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 Ciscomani chose party over the communities and businesses he represents.
