Six Democrats voted with Republicans to pass HR 5283, which prohibits the use of federal lands to build temporary housing for immigrants seeking asylum.
The project was approved on Thursday with 224 votes in favor and 203 against, with the support of representatives Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzále, both from Texas; Don Davis (North Carolina); Jared Golden (Maine); Mary Peltola (Alaska) and Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (Washington).
Although the bill could be blocked in the Senate, where Democrats have a majority, it sets a mark on the stance of some Democratic members of Congress on immigration.
“The mission of the National Park Service is to conserve natural and cultural resources for the enjoyment of future generations, not to rescue the Biden Administration’s failed border policies,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman of Arkansas.
Mayor Eric Adams got President Joe Biden’s administration to authorize build temporary housing and facilities for immigrant families at Floyd Bennett Field in southeast Brooklyn.
The bill was introduced on August 25, 2023 by Representative Nicole Malliotakis (New York)in the midst of the immigration situation that the Big Apple faces due to the arrival of new immigrants.
“Turning our federal parks into camps for unauthorized immigrants from around the world is unfair to surrounding communities and taxpayers,” Malliotakis said. “I have joined with local and federal colleagues to use every legal and legislative tool at our disposal, from lawsuits to this legislation, to prevent the Biden, Hochul and Adams administrations from taking more open space away from our citizens.”
The bill prohibits the construction of temporary housing on lands under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Forest Service.
It even revokes a 2023 lease agreement between the National Park Service and New York City to use parts of the Gateway National Recreation Area, where the New York City government intended to provide housing for immigrants.
Democratic Representative Nydia Velázquez (New York) proposed an amendment to allow the Secretary of the Interior to provide housing to certain immigrants when the state where they reside cannot offer them that benefit. The motion was rejected with 223 votes.
The promoter of the project, Malliotakis, is a representative for District 11 of New York, which includes Staten Island and part of Brooklyn.
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2023-12-01 15:17:32
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