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Committee member criticizes focus on immigration enforcement, cites $3.4 trillion CBO estimate
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Summary
At a Senate Committee on Appropriations budget hearing, a committee member urged the panel to address rising costs for families and said recent legislation raised the federal deficit by about $3.4 trillion, arguing enforcement-focused proposals do not help with groceries, gas, housing, or health care.
A committee member at a Senate Committee on Appropriations budget hearing criticized the panel’s attention to immigration enforcement and urged hearings focused on the rising cost of living.
“The legislation increased the federal deficit by $3,400,000,000,000,” the committee member said, referencing the Congressional Budget Office estimate, and said the package had failed “to provide real relief to middle and low income families.”
The lawmaker listed constituents’ pressing economic concerns — high grocery bills, record gas prices and unaffordable housing — and asked whether federal efforts to punish so-called sanctuary cities would address any of those problems. “Does it help a single mom afford to put food on the table? No,” the committee member said.
A witness interjected briefly in response to two questions, saying, “It has nothing to do with gas,” and later, “It addresses them by making them worse.” The witness was identified in the hearing transcript only by their role as a responding participant and is labeled "Witness" in this report.
During questioning directed at a separate witness the committee member pressed concerns about enforcement tactics and technology. Addressing “Mr. Wolf,” the committee member said they were disturbed by descriptions that ICE agents can enter homes without a judicial warrant and criticized Department of Homeland Security access to advanced facial-recognition tools. “DHS says they know who the violent criminals are… Well, why aren’t they doing it?” the committee member asked, saying the descriptions raised questions about civil liberties and misuse of surveillance tools.
The committee member urged further hearings to get answers and asked executive leaders to stop practices the speaker characterized as harming law-abiding citizens. The hearing record does not show a formal vote or motion on these topics; the speaker closed by thanking the chairman.
The hearing transcript identifies the body as the Senate Committee on Appropriations budget panel; no formal actions were recorded on the topics described above in the provided transcript excerpt.
