Analysis · Floor speech · beta

Joaquin Castro

Democrat on Liberty and Justice for All 2026-09-01

356 words · 20 sentences · 27 clauses

Statement grade

Average 94 / 100

A score under 50 is red. Choose a measurement to see where it lost points and why; choose it again to clear.

Claims 81%The ask 11%Reasoning 8%

This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.

Mr. Speaker, Claims · 167 wordsI rise today because we have all witnessed the brutality of ICE on the streets of America, Unearned certaintyand Members of Congress have witnessed that brutality behind the closed walls of detention centers across our Nation. ICE has become a rogue, abusive agency that should be disbanded. ICE agents are roving across our communities with impunity, killing people in cold blood, including U.S. citizens, while Donald Trump’s cronies profit. These ICE agents have not gone rogue alone. The entire agency has gone rogue under the direction of Donald Trump and Stephen Miller. Masked ICE agents in unmarked cars are working with Trump allies, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, to meet quotas that fuel the President’s mass deportation campaign. Every single day they are stopping, profiling hardworking Brown men on their way to construction jobs in the early morning, families on their way to school, going to pick up their kids, and H-E-B workers, grocery store workers in Texas getting off their shifts at warehouses and stores at night. The ask · 11 wordsLet us remember the names of those whom ICE has murdered. Claims · 47 wordsThe first one was a San Antonian, Ruben Ray Martinez.¹ There was another Texan, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston.² Renee Good, Alex Pretti, ³and Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero--these folks were victims of the ICE murders.⁴ In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention.⁵ Reasoning · 28 wordsThese deaths are not accidents of an overwhelmed system.Logical leap They are the results of this administration engineering a rogue agency to profit at the expense of vulnerable people.Logical leap The ask · 13 wordsWe must shut down places like the Dilley detention center, a trailer prison, ⁶Claims · 70 wordswhere children as young as 2 months old are in prison.⁷ For each child who is thrown in there, for each pregnant woman thrown into Dilley, there is an American company, CoreCivic, with American investors who make more money for each child, each woman, ⁸and each person who is in prison. We have allowed for the commodification of child imprisonment in our United States of America under President Donald Trump. The ask · 7 wordsThis must change.Vague promise ICE should be disbanded. Claims · 4 wordsIt has gone rogue, The ask · 9 wordsand we must shut down the Dilley detention center.

At a glance

Lost points for

Switch Claims on to list the checkable claims here.

What the tags mean

Signal · 100

0 of 4 deductions are Signal

Signal checks whether every part makes a point, gives a reason, or asks for action. A low score means the speaker filled time with fluff, pleasantries, or attacks.

Nothing lost points.

Relevance · no score

Not applicable: nothing to answer. Excluded from the average.

Relevance checks whether the speaker stays on topic and answers the question asked. A low score means the speaker dodged the issue.

Reasoning · 88

2 of 4 deductions are Reasoning

Reasoning checks for sound logic and solid support for any conclusion. A low score means the speaker made unsupported leaps or used weak arguments.

A conclusion that does not follow from the reasons given for it.What the tags mean “These deaths are not accidents of an overwhelmed system.”Deaths in detention do not by themselves show the deaths were engineered rather than accidental.
A conclusion that does not follow from the reasons given for it.What the tags mean “They are the results of this administration engineering a rogue agency to profit at the expense of vulnerable people.”Deaths in detention and per-detainee payments to a contractor do not establish that the administration engineered the agency to profit.

Conclusions found · 8

Conclusion“ICE has become a rogue, abusive agency that should be disbanded.”

Because“I rise today because we have all witnessed the brutality of ICE on the streets of America,”

“and Members of Congress have witnessed that brutality behind the closed walls of detention centers across our Nation.”

“ICE agents are roving across our communities with impunity, killing people in cold blood, including U.S. citizens,”

“In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention.”

Reason given
Conclusion“These deaths are not accidents of an overwhelmed system.”

Because“In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention.”

Reason flawedDeaths in detention do not by themselves show the deaths were engineered rather than accidental.
Conclusion“They are the results of this administration engineering a rogue agency to profit at the expense of vulnerable people.”

Because“In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention.”

“For each child who is thrown in there, for each pregnant woman thrown into Dilley, there is an American company, CoreCivic, with American investors who make more money for each child, each woman,”

Reason flawedDeaths in detention and per-detainee payments to a contractor do not establish that the administration engineered the agency to profit.
Conclusion“We must shut down places like the Dilley detention center, a trailer prison,”

Because“where children as young as 2 months old are in prison.”

“For each child who is thrown in there, for each pregnant woman thrown into Dilley, there is an American company, CoreCivic, with American investors who make more money for each child, each woman,”

Reason given
Conclusion“We have allowed for the commodification of child imprisonment in our United States of America under President Donald Trump.”

Because“For each child who is thrown in there, for each pregnant woman thrown into Dilley, there is an American company, CoreCivic, with American investors who make more money for each child, each woman,”

“and each person who is in prison.”

Reason given
Conclusion“This must change.”

Because“I rise today because we have all witnessed the brutality of ICE on the streets of America,”

“In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention.”

“where children as young as 2 months old are in prison.”

Reason given
Conclusion“ICE should be disbanded.”

Because“I rise today because we have all witnessed the brutality of ICE on the streets of America,”

“and Members of Congress have witnessed that brutality behind the closed walls of detention centers across our Nation.”

“ICE agents are roving across our communities with impunity, killing people in cold blood, including U.S. citizens,”

“In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention.”

Reason given
Conclusion“and we must shut down the Dilley detention center.”

Because“where children as young as 2 months old are in prison.”

“For each child who is thrown in there, for each pregnant woman thrown into Dilley, there is an American company, CoreCivic, with American investors who make more money for each child, each woman,”

Reason given

Respect · no score

Not checked: graded before this measurement existed. Excluded from the average.

Respect checks whether the speaker argued with people’s positions and records rather than attacking the people: insults, mockery, or bad motives assigned to them. Criticism of what someone did, however strong, is not marked.

Clarity · 93

2 of 4 deductions are Clarity

Clarity checks for plain speaking, clear ownership of actions, and honest limits on certainty. A low score means vague promises or evasive language.

Something stated as certain with nothing to back it.What the tags mean “we have all witnessed”Asserts shared observation by everyone in place of citing evidence.
A promise with no date, no measure and no one responsible.What the tags mean “This must change”Calls for change with no actor, measure, or success condition.

Claims · 8

This list shows the factual statements you can check for yourself: the words as said, and the claim restated to stand on its own.

1“Ruben Ray Martinez”search
2“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston”search
3“Renee Good, Alex Pretti”search
4“Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero”search
5“In Texas alone, over a dozen people have died in ICE detention”search
6“the Dilley detention center, a trailer prison”search
7“children as young as 2 months old are in prison”search
8“there is an American company, CoreCivic”search

Analyzed on 2026-09-14