Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) released the following statement on H.R. 6136, the immigration bill known as “Goodlatte 2” which failed in the House today.

“To be clear, the mean-spirited bill we voted on today is by no means ‘moderate’—it was a compromise between the House anti-immigrant faction and the super anti-immigration faction. This legislation cut off paths for legal immigration, held Dreamers hostage to funding for President Trump’s wasteful $25 billion border wall, and authorized the government to jail immigrant families indefinitely at the border. After touring detention centers in Texas last weekend, I can attest to what a cruel and unacceptable alternative this is to family separation.
 
“What’s sad about this bill and its partisanship is that there are many areas on immigration where Republicans and Democrats can find agreement—namely giving young Dreamers a clear path to citizenship in the only country they’ve ever called home. We have the votes to pass such a bill if Republican leadership would only bring it to the floor instead of catering to its extreme fringes.” 

Pingree Active on Issue of Family Separation

Yesterday, Pingree joined a number of colleagues to debrief the media about their visit to detention facilities and conversations with detained asylum seekers in Texas last weekend. Pingree’s comments begin at 24 minutes, 15 seconds: 

Last Friday, Pingree joined 122 colleagues in sending a letter urging an investigation into the capacity of federal agencies to reunite families who had been separated at the border. Read the letter here.
 
Today, Pingree is joining colleagues in sending a letter to the Office of Refugee Resettlement asking detailed questions on the agency’s care of children who had been separated from their families. Read the letter here. She also voted to approve a Motion to Recommit which would amend the underlying bill to prevent any officer or employee of the United States from detaining an immigrant who entered the country with their child who is under 18 years of age separately from their child in order to deter immigration.