Congressman Mo Brooks delivered an impassioned speech from the House floor Tuesday, blasting House Democrats for not taking border security seriously enough.
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Brooks shared personal stories of individuals who had been killed by illegal immigrants, including four from Huntsville.
Oralia Mendoza and her 13-year-old granddaughter, Mariah Lopez, were brutalized and murdered by members of a drug cartel last year. Back in 2009, 19-year-old Tad Mattle and his girlfriend, Leigh Anna Jemersion were killed after their car was hit by an illegal immigrant fleeing the scene of a crime.
“Mr. Speaker, each of these horrific deaths have one thing in common. None of these lives would have been stolen from us but for illegal aliens aided and abetted by Democrats who protect, promote and prefer the lives of illegal aliens to the lives of American citizens,” Brooks said from the floor.
“Mr. Speaker, these killings on American soil will continue if America does not secure our porous southern border.”
President Donald Trump is demanding $5.7 billion in Homeland Security funding to build a wall along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border lacking a physical barrier. House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have refused to agree to the funding, with Pelosi calling it “immoral,” while more liberal members of her caucus call for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to be defunded altogether.
The stalemate over wall funding has led to a partial government shutdown, as about 25 percent of federal agencies do not have Congressionally-approved appropriations for 2019. Those agencies include the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Federal Drug Administration, the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, the Treasury Department, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Transportation.