Immigration

WASHINGTON—Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, along with United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Richard E. Neal (MA-01), William Keating (MA-09), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) released this joint statement on the decision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate its Intergovernmental Service... Read More »

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (D-MA) today opened debate on the rule for the Senate-passed American Rescue Plan Act to get this historic bill to President Biden’s desk for his signature. This legislation will help crush the coronavirus, return children safely to the classroom, get vaccines to the people, put dollars into families’ pockets, and put people back to work. Chairman McGovern’s remarks are below: “M. Speaker, a once-in-a century pandemic brought us... Read More »

WASHINGTON – House Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (MA-02) is calling for action on the 400+ bills, including more than 275 bipartisan bills, passed by the Democratic House Majority over the past year that are still awaiting action in the GOP-controlled Senate. “Last year, the American people elected a Democratic House Majority committed to making a difference in the lives of Massachusetts families,” said Congressman McGovern. “Democrats have delivered, passing key bills to lower pres... Read More »

WASHINGTON – Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) will join Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA), Filemon Vela (D-TX) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), and 16 other Democratic Members of Congress who are traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas tomorrow, July 13th. Many of the members are returning to the site of an investigation last summer into the conditions and treatment of migrants at several Department of Homeland Security facilities. The Members will be briefed by ... Read More »

BOSTON — President Donald Trump “thinks he is a dictator,” U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said Friday as he predicted that both Congress and the courts will react to Trump’s announcement that he is declaring a national emergency at the southern border. McGovern, speaking to WGBH’s “Morning Edition” on Friday, said he hopes the U.S. House and Senate will pass resolutions disapproving of the president’s action with enough support from Republicans to override a potential presidential veto. “I think the pre... Read More »

U.S. Representatives Norma J. Torres (D-CA) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) have led a group of 19 members of Congress, including Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), in a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Acting Inspector General John Kelly to urge an investigation into the Custom and Border Protection (CBP) agents’ use of tear gas against migrants at the San Ysidro Border Crossing in California on November 25, 2018. In addition, the federal lawmakers express concerns that the action m... Read More »

WORCESTER, MA – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02) together with Catholic Charities of Worcester County Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Cameron, announced a grant of $225,000 from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The grant will help Catholic Charities expand their citizenship program and allow them to further support the immigrant community in Worcester County. “I’m so thankful to Catholic Charities for their tireless work on behalf of our community. I’ve visit... Read More »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressmen Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s announced ceiling for refugee admissions into the United States next year: “We join together to express our extreme disappointment at the administration’s proposal to impose a limit on admitting no more than 30,000 refugees in the coming fiscal year. With the world in the midst of the wor... Read More »

Full Text of Letter (PDF) WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representatives James P. McGovern (MA-02), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Norma Torres (CA-35) led 118 House Democrats – including 16 full committee Ranking Members – in a letter calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse his decision declaring domestic violence, gang violence and gender-based violence as invalid grounds for seeking asylum in the United States. The letter comes just days after the Trump Administration iss... Read More »

Representative Jim McGovern and Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville are on a mission to expose violence and poverty in El Salvador and Honduras, they said Sunday, in the hope that a greater public understanding of living conditions there will help block President Trump from ending Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from the Central American nations. McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, said unless Congress intervenes, Americans will see families across the country torn apart, just as the n... Read More »