Thread: Cornyn Teams Up With Dem Obama Critic On Border Bill

by Caroline May 14 Jul 2014, 11:58 AM PDT
breitbart



Legislation set to be introduced Tuesday aims to deal with the surge of illegal immigration at the southern border by expediting the processing of unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors from Central America.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar say their bill, the “Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency (HUMANE) Act,” would help alleviate the crisis at the border by treating all unaccompanied minors in the same manner.

“Our proposal would improve the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2008, treating all unaccompanied minors equally and ensuring Due Process under the law in a timely, fair manner,” Cornyn said Monday.

The 2008 law placed special protections on unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries that has made removing them difficult.

Cuellar called on the House and Senate to “act quickly” on their legislation.

“The border region in Texas has been overwhelmed over the past few months by a deluge of undocumented immigrants from Central America,” he said. “This legislation strengthens current law protecting unaccompanied children and responds to the crisis while supporting the men and women of Border Patrol.”

Since October more then 57,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained illegally crossing the southern border into the U.S. The vast majority of the illegal immigration has been from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

In an summary, the legislators’ offices laid out what the bill would accomplish, including tweaking the 2008 law to treat all unaccompanied minors equally, allowing for “voluntary reunification with family” and keeping current repatriation “protections”.

Further their bill would allow unaccompanied illegal immigrant children who are seeking asylum to appear before an immigration judge within 7 days of going through their Health and Human Services “screening” under the 2008 trafficking law. It would authorize up to 40 new immigration judges and require HHS to “make all efforts to secure pro-bono legal counsel for the child.”

The bill would also require a decision on the claims to be made within 72 hours — should the child’s claim be successful they will be allowed to stay in the U.S. If they are unsuccessful they would be removed and reunited with family in their home countries.

The legislation would also require HHS to house the illegal immigrant children while they await their immigration hearings, would require background checks for sponsors, and a plan for “operational control” of the southern border.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...Illegal-Minors

Bill would speed removals of Central American kids

By ERICA WERNER,
Associated PressPublished: July 15, 2014, 5:58 am
Updated: July 15, 2014, 6:22 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Texas lawmakers are teaming up on a bill to speed removals of the unaccompanied Central American kids who’ve been arriving by the tens of thousands at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The legislation by Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, and Rep. Henry Cuellar (KWAY’-yar), a Democrat, would allow Border Patrol agents to turn many of the kids around quickly at the border.

Under current law, the youths stay here while awaiting an eventual hearing in the backlogged immigration court system, something that can keep them in this country for years.

Of more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors who’ve arrived at the border since October, only 1,254 had been returned home as of the end of June, according to a law enforcement official who spoke anonymously to discuss confidential data.

VIDEO @ LINK

http://kxan.com/2014/07/15/bill-woul...erican-kids-2/

by Caroline May 15 Jul 2014
breitbart



Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez slammed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Henry Cuellar's (D-TX) bipartisan effort to more quickly deal with unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors from Central America.

“Senator Cornyn has led the opposition to every single immigration reform proposal he has ever seen, and he is exploiting children, wrapping himself in a thin blanket of feigned compassion, and he has gotten a Democrat to stand with him,” the Illinois Democrat said Tuesday in a statement. “This is not the middle ground, this is the deportation-only agenda dressed up in sheep’s clothing. More of the same is not a solution.”

Gutiérrez has been one of the left’s most vocal advocates for immigration reform and reduced deportations. According to him, the United States should be protecting the illegal immigrant minors, not looking for ways to send them back to their home countries.

Since last October, more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained illegally crossing into the United States through the southern border. The vast majority of the illegal minors are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

“The Congress has an important decision to make, right here, right now: As our nation faces a refugee crisis of desperate children fleeing for their lives, and the Western Hemisphere faces massive displacement of children and families, do we want to create a border with Mexico that rivals the militarization of the border between North and South Korea? Is that our response, to shut out our neighbors and stick our heads in the sand?” he asked.

“Or do we rise to the challenge, as Americans have always done, follow the laws we have in place to sort out legitimate claims for asylum and safeguard against sex-trafficking and respond with leadership, compassion, and solutions that will actually work,” he continued.

Last week, Cuellar received criticism from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for his efforts to lessen the restrictions on repatriating Central American illegal minors.

“Henry Cuellar does not represent the Congressional Hispanic Caucus,” CHC Chairman Rubén Hinojosa said, according to Politico. “He’s a Blue Dog, he comes to the meetings once in a long time... Cuellar does not speak for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the many other caucuses who are united with us.”

According to Gutiérrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the lawmakers who are trying to send the illegal immigrant minors home are simply reacting to a mob mentality.

“[N]ow we have politicians with a political agenda to spend more tax money on the border using the plight of these children to say this is a border security crisis, this is a crisis of too many rights for undeserving children, and to respond to the mob, not to our values as a nation,” he charged.

Cuellar and Cornyn are expected to introduced their “Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency (HUMANE) Act Tuesday. Their bill would, in part, change the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2008 to treat all unaccompanied minors equally, allowing for more expedited processing.

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