Thread: OBAMA EXPANDING REFUGEE PROGRAM FOR CENTRAL AMERICANS

Jul 26, 1:02 PM EDT
BY ALICIA A. CALDWELL


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration will soon expand efforts to help Central American families and children legally immigrate to the United States amid another surge of migrants caught crossing the border illegally.

White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Amy Pope said Tuesday that the administration will expand in-country refugee processing for families coming from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala and launch an effort to temporarily relocate some families facing the greatest threats to Costa Rica.

The government is also broadening a nearly two-year-old program to allow some Central American children to reunite with parents already legally living in the United States.

Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that program will now allow some unmarried siblings, in-country parents and other caregivers to move to the U.S. with a child approved for the program.

The efforts are designed in part to combat the crush of tens of thousands of families and unaccompanied children caught crossing the border illegally this year. But it is unclear how quickly the expanded efforts may impact the flow of immigrants trying to make their way to the United States illegally.

Since the start of the budget year in October, more than 51,100 people traveling as families and more than 43,000 unaccompanied children have been caught illegally crossing the Mexican border. The number of such immigrants has been steadily rising this year after significant decreases between the 2014 and 2015 budget years.

The Obama administration first launched the effort to allow child immigrants to legally come to the U.S. in December 2014. More than 600 have moved to the United States since then. Mayorkas said 2,884 kids have been approved for the program and more than 9,500 applications are pending.

In January, the administration first announced that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would pre-screen would-be refugee families. U.S. officials will now handle more in-country processing for those families.

Pope said refugee programs in Central America are being expanded because "current efforts to date haven't been sufficient." The new programs, she said, are designed to help "promote safe and orderly immigration and border security."

Pope said it is unclear how many families and children may benefit from the enhanced programs but officials expect requests for help to steadily increase as the programs get underway in the coming months.

In the meantime, Costa Rica will also soon start accepting up to 200 people in immediate need of refuge at a time for up to six months.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...07-26-12-14-37

Then he needs to stop all aid to the repressive countries.

Once again a planned move by O admin - now all the UACs get to bring their families; will this 10x the numbers? Who will pay for all of this?

It was stated before they do not technically qualify for "refugee" status and all the benefits that brings. There is also legislation in the works to change the details of handling UAMs but O continues to sell us American citizens out and make us pay for central americans that he is allowing to live here & we have to pay for - plus giving notice "come on in", your whole family too.

It will be almost impossible to legally be rid of these hundreds of thousands of free loaders that will turn into millions.

This is beyond ridiculous and anti-American citizens, usual for O. Sessions is right, O spends too much time creating bonuses for illegals & non citizens rather than upholding our immigration laws & protecting Americans. One third of Salvadorians live in the USA now.

O is redistributing the wealth all right, creating democrat voters and on our backs. These people are all poor - we have 95million unemployed Americans - why is this continuing? Congress better stop lolygaging around because O is not missing any opportunities to import more people.
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Jul 26 2016, 12:26 pm ET

U.S. Expands Asylum Program for Central American Children

by Pete Williams

Parents hoping to help their children escape the humanitarian crisis in Central America will have more chances to seek asylum under a series of steps announced Tuesday by the Obama administration.
"Our efforts to date have been insufficient to address the number of people who may have legitimate refugee claims," said Amy Pope, the deputy White House homeland security adviser.
The changes will give parents a greater opportunity to begin the asylum process for their children in their home countries, "while discouraging people from placing children into the hands of smugglers, who take them on an extraordinarily dangerous journey across Mexico to get to the US," Pope said.
Related: Detaining Immigrant Kids Hasn't Worked. U.S. Wants to Try Something New
The government is expanding its Central American Minors program by providing more people at U.S. embassies to accept asylum applications and begin the screening. For children deemed to require immediate transfer, Costa Rica has agreed to serve as a temporary host site for those waiting for their applications to be processed.
Immigrant families, many of them mothers with children, board a bus headed to the downtown bus station in McAllen, Texas on April 30, 2015. Seth Robbins / AP, file
The revisions announced Tuesday also allow more opportunities for adults to enter the U.S. when accompanying qualified children who seek asylum and who have at least one parent already legally in the U.S. Among those eligible are older siblings of the children, parents who remained behind in the country of origin, and caregivers.
"This will help achieve one of our overarching goals, which is family unity," said Alejandro Mayorkas, the deputy Homeland Security secretary.
Related: Only Two States — California and Virginia — Say Guard Could House Immigrant Children
So far, administration officials say they have received about 9,500 applications for asylum under the Central America Minors program, most of them within the past nine months. Of those, 2,800 have been approved for resettlement in the US.
Detained immigrant children line up in the cafeteria at the Karnes County Residential Center, a temporary home for immigrant women and children detained at the border, on Sept. 10, 2014, in Karnes City, Texas. AP
"By themselves, today's actions will not solve this challenge, but they are steps in the right direction," said the State Department's Ann Richards, assistant secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration.
In April, the UN refugee agency called for urgent action to help people fleeing violence in Central America that has reached levels not seen in 30 years.
"We are particularly concerned about the rising numbers of unaccompanied children and women on the run who face recruitment into criminal gangs, sexual and gender-based violence, and murder," said Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/imm...ildren-n617096

I get so tired of hearing it's a "humanitarian" crisis. Maybe, I'm cold-hearted, but these people seem like opportunist to me.

Legislation gets introduced but nothing happens - this is the north american union in the making and American citizens be damned and pay for all these central americans/mexican hispanics; as well as, as many muslim "refugees" they can get in here too. The UAMs receive more than the average retiree - over $17000 a yr for each child and there are 12 to a family. They are working on bringing every last one of them here loaded with freebies forever.

This legislation is going nowhere....is this congress totally inept or corrupt or both?
Congressman Gosar Introduces Bill to Stop Obama's Central American Amnesty Program

Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) recently introduced legislation that will stop President Obama's backdoor amnesty program known as the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee/Parole Program. Gosar's bill, the "Central American Amnesty Termination Act of 2016" is straightforward: the legislation prohibits the use of any federal funds to "implement, administer, or carry out" the CAM program or "any successor program." (H.R. 5141) In an extensive "findings" section, Gosar points out that CAM recipients receive cash, loans for flights, medical assistance, and most importantly are put on a path to citizenship. (Id.)
President Obama announced the CAM program in November 2014 and fully implemented it in February 2015, supposedly to stop the surge of unaccompanied alien minors (UAMs) from Central America from crossing the southern border unlawfully. (See FAIR Legislative Update, Nov. 18, 2014; FAIR Legislative Update, Feb. 18, 2015) Under the CAM program, the federal government has offered to grant either refugee or parole status to children and adults from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador when a "qualifying parent" who is "lawfully present" in the U.S. files an application for refugee status on behalf of their child currently living in one of those countries. (USCIS CAM Guidelines) The guidelines provide that a "qualifying parent" may be an alien with (1) permanent resident status; (2) temporary protected status; (3) parole (after one year); (4) deferred action (after one year); (5) deferred enforced departure; or (6) withholding of removal. (Id.) Importantly, these categories cover illegal aliens granted amnesty through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), as well as the President's other backdoor amnesty policies. (FAIR Legislative Update, Feb. 18, 2015) This means that the Obama administration unilaterally created a program to allow illegal aliens to use the laws of the United States governing refugees and parole to bring in their relatives living outside the U.S.
Granting refugee or parole status to Central Americans through this program contradicts federal law. (See FAIR's Johnson Memos Anniversary Update, Nov. 20, 2015 at 12-13) Section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a refugee as a person "who has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." Moreover, legal opinions make it clear that poverty and crime are not sufficient grounds for granting refugee status. Similarly, granting parole en masse to relatives of illegal aliens in the U.S. stretches "humanitarian parole" far beyond its statutory definition in INA Section 212 as allowing the entry of an alien on a temporary, case-by-case basis, and "for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit." (INA § 212(d)(5)(A)) More than 8,000 aliens have already applied for the CAM program, the U.S. has already admitted 197 Central American aliens through the program, and more applications and admissions are expected. (See Gosar Press Release, Apr. 29, 2016)

In a press release announcing the introduction of his bill, Rep. Gosar blasted the Obama administration for bypassing Congress and unilaterally implementing CAM. "Article 1, section 8, of the Constitution gives Congress clear jurisdiction on immigration matters and the creation of the CAM program by executive action clearly infringes on that authority," declared. Rep. Gosar. (Id.) "Surely, our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves at the thought of the Obama Administration flying illegal aliens from Central American countries to the United States, allowing them to work and putting them on the path to citizenship." (Id.)
The bill has 21 original cosponsors: Brian Babin (R-TX); Lou Barletta (R-PA); Diane Black (R-TN); Dave Brat (R-VA); Mo Brooks (R-AL); Scott DesJarlais (R-TN); Jeff Duncan (R-SC); Louie Gohmert (R-TX); Glenn Grothman (R-WI); Tim Huelskamp (R-KS); Walter Jones (R-NC); Steve King (R-IA); Kenny Marchant (R-TX); John Mica (R-FL); and Steve Palazzo (R-MS).

http://www.fairus.org/legislative-up...te-5-10-2016#1

H.R. 5141: Central American Amnesty Termination Act of 2016

Introduced:Apr 29, 2016
Status: Referred to Committee on Apr 29, 2016
This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on April 29, 2016, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.
Sponsor:

Paul Gosar


Representative for Arizona's 4th congressional district
Republican

Text:

Read Text »
Last Updated: Apr 29, 2016
Length: 6 pages
Prognosis:
1% chance of being enacted (details)


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About the bill

Full Title To provide for the termination of the Central American Minors Refugee/Parole Program.
The bill’s title was written by its sponsor.
Read CRS Summary >

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr5141

OUR tax dollars should not be paying for this! We have our own homeless, Senior's and Veteran's to take care of.

Send those parents back to work and fight for their own rights on their soil!

We are not the dumping ground or ATM machine for the world anymore!

19 TRILLION IN DEBT, MILLIONS OUT OF WORK!

Where are they going to fly all the people out of Chicago? A war zone! Fly them to some other country??? Who wants them? Can we fly them all to Canada!