Congress is rushing to pass a budget bill that would have devastating impacts on Texas children and families. As Congress scrambles to meet its self-imposed deadline of passing the bill by July 4th, we only have a few days left to advocate against this legislation. Now is the time for us to make our voices heard by calling and emailing our legislators to tell them to vote NO! Read below to learn more about the ways this bill would impact Texas children and find tools for easily calling or emailing your representatives to advocate for children’s health and safety.
This bill would take away health insurance and food assistance from millions of Texans by making deep budget cuts to public benefits programs including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as food stamps).
Over 4.4 million Texans currently rely on Medicaid, which covers 36% of all Texas Children. One in ten Texans currently benefits from SNAP, and more than three quarters of SNAP recipients are families with children.
At the same time that this bill guts funding for the basic needs programs that families rely on, it will also increase funding for immigration enforcement that jails children alongside their parents, tears mixed-status families apart, and results in the deportation of many U.S. citizen children.
Additionally, this bill would reduce or eliminate legal protections for detained immigrant children. It would allow children to be detained indefinitely, fund strip searches of children as young as 12 years old by law enforcement officers, set up barriers to children’s release, and place unaccompanied immigrant children at greater risk of trafficking and abuse by failing to fund legal representation or support services for them.
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of children and young people in Texas. Stay up to date on policy issues affecting children and youth by following CDF on social media and regularly checking our Advocacy Actions page.