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WASHINGTON, DC — In a follow-up to his August visit to the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, U.S. Congressman Paul D. Tonko today is demanding answers and transparency on facility operations, namely on the facility expansion announced earlier this year. The first letter — sent to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, as well as the Acting Director… Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Paul D. Tonko cheered the announcement from the Biden Administration that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be offered to Venezuelan migrants. This action comes days after Tonko and other members in the House sent a bipartisan letter to the Biden Administration calling for this redesignation, which will support Venezuelan migrants and make them eligible… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko today questioned JooYeun Chang, Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during a hearing in the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations examining the ongoing efforts by the Biden Administration to ensure the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied children at the U.S. border. Watch Rep. Tonko’s full remarks HERE… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted in the House today to advance H.R. 1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, bipartisan legislation that provides needed support to local farms and dairies through reforms that improve and streamline the temporary visa program and strengthen protections for agricultural workers. “As the grandson of dairy farmers, I recognize firsthand the… Read more »

“Thousands of New Yorkers and countless Americans are paying the price for this administration’s failed approach. We need to stop the bleeding from this shutdown, reopen and strengthen the Department of Homeland Security, and get our government employees back to work. That’s what these bills would do. What they don’t do is ask taxpayers to fund an easily-defeated border wall, an 11th Century security solution to a modern day problem.” Read more »

"I remain deeply troubled by the total lack of interest from the President and from my colleagues in Congress to offer a serious plan for reuniting the more than 2,300 children separated from their parents by our government under the President’s so-called “zero-tolerance” policy." - Congressman Paul Tonko Read more »

"A just nation does not take lightly the judgment of innocents. Let us not discard our friends and our neighbors for the sake of political theater, not when we can instead draw strength of heart and mind and treasure from their experience, their differences, and the many values we share in common." - Rep. Paul Tonko Read more »