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Rep. Mike Lawler, Will You Continue to Empower the Extreme Rhetoric and Anti-Immigrant Legislation Pushed by Your Colleagues?

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The House GOP is teeing up a vote on H.R. 2, a hate group-backed bill filled to the brim with anti-asylum and anti-immigrant proposals — and New York Republican Mike Lawler stands to be a deciding vote in whether or not this odious and unworkable legislation advances.

In response to recent migrant arrivals in his state, Lawler said that we “can’t lose sight of the human side of this problem. Thousands upon thousands of immigrants, including children, risking it all because they see America as their last hope for freedom and opportunity.” But supporting H.R. 2 and its anti-asylum measures would risk turning his back on the very children and families he purported to defend earlier this year. 

H.R. 2 is a nativist wish-list that offers no solutions to our nation’s broken immigration system, and instead proposes a slew of Trump-era proposals, including stripping unaccompanied minor children of critical protections. It’s unclear whether GOP leadership actually has the votes to pass this cruel agenda, but as part of their political theater, they’re staging a vote on May 11, the date that the Biden administration is scheduled to end Title 42. 

This means all eyes are now on Lawler, who’s also among the Republicans that represent districts won by President Biden in the 2020 presidential election. If he’s truly solutions-focused, this bill isn’t it. Will he protect children and others in search of the American Dream – or continue to empower the rhetoric and legislation pushed by the most extreme members of his caucus?