Press ReleaseNeutral2026-04-29

Whip Clark Remarks at Press Conference Following Dilley, TX Visit

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This press release from Representative Katherine M. Clark (D-MA) was published on 2026-04-29 and titled "Whip Clark Remarks at Press Conference Following Dilley, TX Visit". It focuses on immigration and touches on the environment.

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Whip Clark Remarks at Press Conference Following Dilley, TX Visit

SAN ANTONIO, TX - Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-2), Rep. Nanette Barrag n (CA-44), Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26), Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-4), and Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51) for an oversight visit to the Dilley ICE Detention Center. Below is a transcript of her remarks at a press conference with FWD.us: "The families I spoke to this morning, I would say, are overwhelmingly in despair. I met with a nursing mom who was separated from her baby when the baby was two-and-a-half months old. That was five months ago. She has not seen him since. "I met with a family whose two-year-old had what looked like a very infected tooth. That has prevented her from eating. She is in pain. But there was no urgency around getting her treatment, despite the fact that just last week Emmanuel Damas - a Haitian man from Boston - died from not receiving treatment for an infected tooth while being detained in Arizona. "I wanted to share the brief thoughts of a note that was handed to me from a little girl: 'I am nine years old. We've been here for nine months. I really miss playing with my toys and my watch. When will we get out of here? I want to go back home. All of my friends left. I miss all of them. Why can't we be released like them? Every day we see people leave but not us. I want to get out and eat pizza and bananas. I really want to go to school. I miss my friends. I miss my sister. I really miss my mom's food. Please get us out of here.' From a nine-year-old girl. "And we know this is just part of a larger weaponization of ICE and Border Patrol. The roving patrols of masked agents. The warrantless searches. The assault and arrest and imprisonment of law-abiding citizens and non-citizens alike. The use of deportation as a weapon against those who dare to protest or maybe write a college op-ed. The outright murder of people in the streets of America. "All of it part of a systematic effort to expand the power of one person and narrow the freedoms of everyone else. Trump wants to bring the horrors in this facility to more communities across the country. But the American people are speaking loudly and clearly - and they are saying 'no more.' "We've run Kristi Noem out of Washington. But now we need to clean up what she left behind. We're going to hold the line and fight for a funding bill that enacts real reforms. We're going to stop the killings. We're going to bring these families the dignity and safety that they're owed. And we're going to bring the perpetrators of this abuse to accountability. We will bring an end to this state-sanctioned terror in Congress." # # #

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Whip Clark Remarks at Press Conference Following Dilley, TX Visit SAN ANTONIO, TX - Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-2), Rep. Nanette Barrag n (CA-44), Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26), Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-4), and Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51) for an oversight visit to the Dilley ICE Detention Center. Below is a transcript of her remarks at a press conference with FWD.us: "The families I spoke to this morning, I would say, are overwhelmingly in despair. I met with a nursing mom who was separated from her baby when the baby was two-and-a-half months old. That was five months ago. She has not seen him since. "I met with a family whose two-year-old had what looked like a very infected tooth. That has prevented her from eating. She is in pain. But there was no urgency around getting her treatment, despite the fact that just last week Emmanuel Damas - a Haitian man from Boston - died from not receiving treatment for an infected tooth while being detained in Arizona. "I wanted to share the brief thoughts of a note that was handed to me from a little girl: 'I am nine years old. We've been here for nine months. I really miss playing with my toys and my watch. When will we get out of here? I want to go back home. All of my friends left. I miss all of them. Why can't we be released like them? Every day we see people leave but not us. I want to get out and eat pizza and bananas. I really want to go to school. I miss my friends. I miss my sister. I really miss my mom's food. Please get us out of here.' From a nine-year-old girl. "And we know this is just part of a larger weaponization of ICE and Border Patrol. The roving patrols of masked agents. The warrantless searches. The assault and arrest and imprisonment of law-abiding citizens and non-citizens alike. The use of deportation as a weapon against those who dare to protest or maybe write a college op-ed. The outright murder of people in the streets of America. "All of it part of a systematic effort to expand the power of one person and narrow the freedoms of everyone else. Trump wants to bring the horrors in this facility to more communities across the country. But the American people are speaking loudly and clearly - and they are saying 'no more.' "We've run Kristi Noem out of Washington. But now we need to clean up what she left behind. We're going to hold the line and fight for a funding bill that enacts real reforms. We're going to stop the killings. We're going to bring these families the dignity and safety that they're owed. And we're going to bring the perpetrators of this abuse to accountability. We will bring an end to this state-sanctioned terror in Congress." # # #