Floor SpeechNeutral2025-04-30
IMMIGRANTS ARE BEING TREATED WITHOUT BASIC DIGNITY AND BEING DENIED MEDICAL CARE
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
DFL-20 · Representative
ImmigrationInfrastructure
Context
On 2025-04-30, Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20) delivered a floor speech titled "IMMIGRANTS ARE BEING TREATED WITHOUT BASIC DIGNITY AND BEING DENIED MEDICAL CARE" in the House.
Full Text
IMMIGRANTS ARE BEING TREATED WITHOUT BASIC DIGNITY AND BEING DENIED MEDICAL CARE Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 72 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 72 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)] [House] [Page H1762] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] IMMIGRANTS ARE BEING TREATED WITHOUT BASIC DIGNITY AND BEING DENIED MEDICAL CARE (Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.) Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, this administration's deportation process has been sloppy and reckless since day one. No due process and no transparency, just families being illegally ripped apart and left to fend for themselves. In severe instances, innocent people have actually died, like Marie Blaise. She was a 44-year-old Haitian woman who was in ICE custody in Pompano Beach. Marie had been complaining about chest pain for hours. They gave her some pills and told her to go lie down. Unfortunately, Marie never woke up. Her loved ones deserve answers. They deserve accountability, like so many immigrant families who have their loved ones missing and who are hurt. These conditions at the ICE facilities are inhumane and unsanitary. Immigrants are being treated without basic dignity and being denied medical care. I am calling for a full and transparent investigation into Marie's death, and I will be visiting the Broward Transitional Center very shortly. It is this neglect and cruelty that is really hurting our American families who are being deported even at this moment. Mr. Speaker, we must have transparency. We must have justice. ____________________