Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., doubled down on her support for a bill that would create “a roadmap for prison abolition” and provide for “full decarceration of federal detention facilities within 10 years,” during an interview with Axios.
.@jonathanvswan presses Rep. Tlaib on backing a bill to end federal prisons: To what extent have you wrestled w/ potential downsides?
Tlaib: I think everyone’s like, oh my god, we’re going to just release everybody.
Swan: But the act you endorsed actually says release everyone pic.twitter.com/ZBX3T9wxQy
— Axios (@axios) November 22, 2021
When asked whether any currently incarcerated criminal deserves to remain “behind bars,” a flustered Tlaib attempted to deflect before suggesting she’d have to review every case.
“In your vision,” asked Axios, “there is still–whatever proportion they are–a small proportion who do need to remain behind bars?”
“Yeah, again, I’d have to look at every case individually,” said Tlaib, “and figure that all out. I can’t just say that.”
Sen.Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., compared Tlaib’s vision to that of the Taliban, writing on Twitter that “the Taliban jumped all over this idea. When they took over Afghanistan first thing they did was empty all the prisons – including releasing terrorists.”
For those who think “Defund the Police” simply does not go far enough….. https://t.co/YNQHoAiHBx
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 22, 2021
According to Justine Fisher at the Los Angeles Times, the bill was “put forward by the Movement for Black Lives,” which includes Black Lives Matter, and was announced in Congress earlier this year, supported by Tlaib and fellow “squad” member Ayanna Pressley, D-Ma.
According to a Vox, “the act would also eliminate the Justice Department’s anti-gang groups, close parts of the FBI, and abolish large swaths of the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Denaturalization Task Force.
Yelena Dzhanova reported at Insider that “the bill is unlikely to pass through Congress. Even with a Democratic stronghold in Congress and the White House, the party remains divided on the extent of reform measures. Moderates have stopped short of endorsing sweeping bills and instead have come to solutions that are far more pared down.”
President Joe Biden, according to Fox News, “has been silent on his stance on the Black Lives Matter-backed BREATHE Act” and has been criticized by the Movement for Black Lives.
