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Ayanna Pressley: “Childhood should never be a birthright, but today in…”

Featuring: Ayanna Pressley, Democratic | U.S. House Massachusetts, 7th Congressional District

In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE

Published February 24, 2026 | Video Starts at 05:03

You deserve to live and thrive and to take up space. The halls of Congress don't belong to a dictator. They belong to you. Childhood should never be a birthright, but today in America, it's a privilege afforded to the few and not the many. I will fight for you like you were my own, because you deserve that. I yield. (05:03–05:10)

CLAIM

Asserts that in America, childhood is a privilege for the few, not a birthright for all.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ayanna Pressley

“Your small body has been detained by the state. You and your mother were imprisoned at Dilley Detention Center, a for profit prison.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 00:32-00:41
“The water there [at Dilley Detention Center] is dirty.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 00:49-00:51
“Your entire family, your parents and your one year old sister Mia, were forcefully deported and left along the side of the road in Mexico.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 01:04-01:15
“He [the father] remains in ICE custody, denied precious time with his family, his future hanging in the balance.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 01:37-04:32
“ICE says Fidel was picked up as a collateral during an ICE operation in Chelsea, Massachusetts.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 01:43-01:50
“You have been imprisoned for over 60 days.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 02:14-02:17
“This White House and everyone complicit in their wholesale child abuse and neglect has ignored your cries.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 02:25-02:34
“Elainey, you were only two weeks old when your father was taken by ICE.”
In Boycott of SOTU, Rep. Pressley Dedicated Floor Speech to Children Traumatized by ICE | Uploaded February 24, 2026 | 03:28-03:33