Thread: US to step up enforcement to stem child immigration surge

US to step up enforcement to stem child immigration surge

The Obama administration on Friday said it would boost resources and speed up deportation hearings to cope with a suddenly rising tide of illegal immigration among children from Central America.

The move comes while Vice President Joe Biden is in the region to discuss the problem, which has further roiled the already toxic debate over immigration reform in the United States.

The White House said the government would step up enforcement resources to hold and process children and adults who bring them into the country illegally.

A White House fact sheet said hearings would be held "as quickly and efficiently as possible while also protecting those who are seeking asylum" to allow US Customs and Immigration officers to return unlawful migrants to their own countries as soon as possible.

Between October 2013 and the end of May 2014, US border officials intercepted more than 47,000 unaccompanied minors trying to illegally enter the United States, almost twice the number registered between October 2012 and the end of September 2013.

Immigration experts say the increased flow of migrants is being partly driven by rising violence in Guatemala.

Guatemala says around 1,550 of its emigrant children are currently in shelters in Texas and Arizona.

Honduras said Wednesday it was preparing to receive around 13 undocumented migrant children detained in the United States and Mexico.

Biden was Friday meeting the presidents of Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as a senior representative from Honduras's government and Mexico's interior secretary, to develop proposals to stem the flow of unlawful migration, the White House said.

President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke with his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto on the eve of the talks to discuss a "regional strategy" to tackle the mass migrations of minors.
col/sst

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/n...igration-surge

By Shelby Lin Erdman CNN
US to spend millions on immigration crisis

Plan includes aid to help reintegrate migrants once they're sent back

UPDATED 12:31 PM MDT Jun 20, 2014

Jason Reed/Reuters

(CNN) —The Obama administration unveiled a plan to spend millions of dollars to stem the tide of undocumented children streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border, announcing a coordinated governmentwide response to the crisis Friday.

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The plan includes almost $100 million in aid to the governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help reintegrate the illegal migrants whom the U.S. will send back and to help keep them in their home countries, according to a White House statement released Friday.

The administration also announced it will set aside $161.5 million this year for the Central American Regional Security Initiative programs.

The statement says the programs "are critical to enabling Central American countries to respond to the region's most pressing security and governance challenges. Our assistance will help stem migration flows as well as address the root cause of the migration."

Read more: http://www.koat.com/politics/us-to-s...#ixzz35CtPeUUj

http://www.alipac.us/f12/gov%92t-con...n-kids-305146/