I wanted to give you a quick update on the unaccompanied minor illegal immigration crisis.
As you may know, President Obama has asked Congress for $3.7 billion to deal with the situation. The problem with the Administration's request is that the lion's share of that money goes to the Department of Health and Human Service to place unaccompanied minors with family members in the U.S. It sends mixed messages to have the President claim that these children will be sent back to their home countries while asking for billions of dollars to do precisely the opposite.
In response to the President's request, I've introduced legislation that does several things to address the crisis. First, it amends current law to make it easier to send these kids to their home countries. Rather than placing children with family members in the U.S., my bill would require that they remain in the custody of the U.S., which would ensure that they are present for legal proceedings. The bill increases the numbers of immigration law judges so that these cases can be more quickly processed. Finally, the bill conditions foreign aid to Central American countries on their cooperation in this matter, and it increases penalties on human smugglers.
Until Congress passes legislation, there are several actions that President Obama can take, including accelerating cases and sending a clear and strong message to Central Americans that unaccompanied minors will be returned home. Without question, the President's unwillingness to do what's within his power is making this situation worse.
I believe that when parents in Central America, who spent thousands of dollars to get their child to the U.S., see that they're coming right back, you'll start to see the flow of accompanied minors subside. Until that starts to happen, I will continue to make this a priority.
