Hispanic Caucus chair rips request to fund Trump border wall

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) is pushing back against House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) recently proposed legislation aimed at fully funding a wall along the southern border.

Lujan Grisham, who is running for governor of New Mexico, blasted the legislation, arguing it would be economically irresponsible to allocate funds toward the project — a top priority for President Trump.

“Despite evidence showing the negative economic and environmental impact of Trump’s border wall and overwhelming opposition by border communities and national security experts, Republicans in Congress continue to use the border wall as a political ploy to their base,” she said in a statement.

“The people who know the border the best, whether it’s companies or lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, border communities, trade groups, economists, and law enforcement officials, all agree that building a wall is unnecessary, impractical, ineffective, and a complete waste of time and taxpayer money.

The New Mexico Democrat alleged that the bill was a move by Republicans to rile far-right voters ahead of the November midterm elections, adding she doesn’t believe it is an effective way to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This type of political maneuvering is in line with the Trump Administration’s decision to embrace radical, politically charged policies that have redirected the government’s limited resources and resulted in the separation of families at the border and, according to recent a recent report, resulted in federal drug-trafficking prosecutions along the southwestern border to plunge to their lowest level in nearly two decades,” she said.

“Leader McCarthy and Trump’s politically driven agenda is undermining the will of the American people, our values, and ability to work together to address our nation’s most pressing issues.”

McCarthy’s bill would allocate an additional $23.4 billion toward the border wall and includes a provision that would cut off funds for so-called sanctuary cities and prevent illegal immigrants from voting in U.S. elections.

“Few things are more fundamental to a nation than a protected border,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “Proud to introduce the Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act.”