MONROE — Roughly 62 people filled the seats April 17 at Green County Courthouse to hear what U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan had to say about immigration, Democrats controlling the House and the presidential impact on farmers and infrastructure.
“We’re a lot busier in Congress,” Pocan said in opening remarks.
He referenced the “For the People Act of 2019,” the first House resolution passed after newly elected Democrats took majority this year. The act, which was sent to the Senate in early March, focuses on elections, from the expansion of voter registration to campaign spending to establishing independent redistricting commissions.
Other measures have included reinstituting net neutrality, protecting so-called Dreamers — young noncitizens brought to the country as children — amending the voting rights act and pushing forward the “Equality Act,” which calls for the inclusion of “sex,” “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected against discrimination.
Resident Richard Novak called for a resolution to “illegals” crossing the border and draining the finances of the United States.
On immigration, Pocan said he disagreed with the idea that if there were fewer immigrants, the country would be more financially secure. Referencing his visits to the southern border, the representative criticized the conditions in which asylum seekers and young people are being held.
“They have less space per child than an inmate does in a super max prison,” Pocan said. “I can tell you, when you have chain-link fence walls, that is the same construction as the dog run in my backyard. That is, by every definition, a cage.”
However, he also said 13 million immigrants are already in the country and have been for years.
“It’s preposterous to think you’re going to make all of those people leave,” Pocan said, referencing a bipartisan Senate bill that had pathway to citizenship and strong protections at the border but was refused action by House Republicans four sessions ago. “This president refuses to take up comprehensive immigration reform, so he breaks the (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) system, he fights over the wall, he doesn’t really address the things he wants to address.”
He added that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, founded in March 2003 by then-president George W. Bush, no longer serves its originally intended purpose of fighting terrorism. He criticized a recent raid against 83 immigrants in Madison of which five were criminals. Pocan said an open records request revealed that ICE agents did not contact the Dane County Sheriff’s Office but did correspond with roughly 15 others and referred to noncitizen residents as “a radical population.”
In March 2018, a Darlington resident with no criminal convictions was arrested by ICE. Another foreign national was apprehended by ICE at the Lafayette County Courthouse. Authorities with the Darlington Police Department said they were not notified by ICE officials of the intent to arrest either man.
A multitude of agriculture-based concerns were raised, from organic growers protesting an “arbitrary” THC limit on hemp through the recent farm bill to the record-breaking number of farm bankruptcies in recent years.
Pocan said he has a passion for antitrust law, which extends to family farms. Pocan noted that trade policies by the president have been “erratic” and said he believes trade-based rhetoric by the White House has only served to make farmers’ conditions worse. As a result, small farms have been greatly impacted because imports of ag-based products have been cut down through retaliatory tariffs.
He also criticized the president’s plan on infrastructure. The request for small municipalities to take on 80% of the cost of bridge and road updates is not going to happen based on local budgets, Pocan said. But the other option is through private-public partnerships, meaning the companies getting involved would be looking to make a profit through tolls unlikely to be implemented in Green or Lafayette County, he said.
Longtime resident LaVern Isley pointed to presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren’s assertion that income taxes should be increased to 70% for the highest earners. He asked Pocan what the Democrats will do to help the proposal become law.
While Pocan said Republicans chose to pass a tax bill which provides most benefits to the top income bracket and in turn places more burden on earners in the lower brackets, he said income-based tax increases may not be the only way to increase revenue for the country. One option would be to tax high-speed financial transactions, which take place multiple times per second, Pocan said. He added that the revenue from those transactions would cover the expense of road improvements.
Barb Krattinger read from her notepad as she asked whether an Iowa-based “Green Plan” which motivates volunteers to improve sustainability, could be implemented as a nationwide program. She noted her concern over climate change.
In noting that climate change is a tangible concern, Pocan said those types of programs will be vital to the survival of future generations. He noted recent studies which show the Earth is already past a point from which it can’t return on ice melt and rising sea levels. He said the resolution of a “Green New Deal,” which isn’t a binding law, but a guideline for improvement, was another step the U.S. could take. However, Pocan said he understands the transition to better environmental practices would include talks over how to ensure people do not lose their jobs as industries change.
“That’s got to be a part of the conversation,” Pocan said.