On August 1, 2014, the House of Representatives and Congressman Don young passed H.R. 5230, the House Border Crisis Supplemental Package. The legislation which works to address the underlying problems of the growing crisis at our nation’s Southern border and curtail the influx of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) seeking entrance into the United States, passed by a margin of 223 to 189 and awaits consideration in the United States Senate.
Congressman Young offered the following statement after passage of H.R. 5230:
“As most Americans can clearly see a perfect storm of failed policy decisions and executive overreach has led to a growing crisis on our nation’s Southern border,” said Congressman Don Young. “A well intentioned anti-trafficking law enacted in 2008 now handcuffs our border security personnel. An ill-conceived executive order issued by President Obama in 2012 has drawn undocumented children to our borders. And a severely backlogged immigration court has prevented swift asylum hearings and deportations when appropriate.
“In response to an estimated 57,000 UACs at our border to date, the Administration has asked Congress and the American people for an additional $3.7 billion without addressing the 2008 law which prohibits our border enforcement personnel from expediting deportations. Spending billions of dollars in taxpayer money without addressing the problem is bad governance, and thankfully the House has chosen to take a different approach. We are a nation of laws and today’s legislation works to enforce them.”
The House passed packed would provide $694 million in funding - fully offset by cuts to federal spending – through September 31, 2014.
In general, H.R. 5230 would:
- Reform to the 2008 trafficking law.
- Expedite and streamline asylum hearings by temporarily increasing the number of immigration court judges, purchasing video and teleconference equipment, and requiring hearings be held no later than 7 days after a UAC is screened.
- Deploy the National Guard to secure the border.
- Reduce red tape currently restricting Customs and Border Patrol activities on federal lands.
For a full bill summary, please click here.
Background:
In 2008, under President Bush, Congress passed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. This law was designed to protect immigrant children from sex traffickers transporting them into the United States. It required immigration judges to hold asylum hearings for these children, rather than initiating immediate deportation, if they were from countries beyond our immediate borders –Mexico or Canada. The purpose of this law was to protect child victims of sex trafficking before they were turned away at our borders and returned to their captors.
In 2010, under the urging of President Obama, Congress considered the DREAM Act. The bill would have granted certain illegal aliens a path to citizenship if they: entered the country before age 16, are currently under age 31, completed some level of secondary education, and had no violent crime convictions. I voted against the proposal in part because I did not want to encourage parents in foreign nations to send their children on a dangerous journey in hopes of illegally entering our nation. The bill passed the formerly-Democrat controlled House before failing in the Senate. However, in 2012, President Obama ignored the will of Congress and enacted the DREAM Act through executive order, directing his border enforcement agencies to halt deportations of illegal aliens who met the criteria within the DREAM Act.
Fast forward to present day. Ongoing violence in several Central American countries, on top of the 2008 anti-sex trafficking law and 2012 executive order, have combined to create a disaster along our southern border. Over 52,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, have flooded our southern border in recent months. Widely available reports indicate that violent street gangs currently operating with impunity in these three countries often recruit male children at extremely young ages, many in kindergarten and first grade, to begin training for their gang. This expanded gang activity has led to the extreme increase of sexual assaults and sexual slavery of young female children in these countries.
These conditions have convinced many parents or guardians to risk sending their children north to the United States. They incorrectly believe that President Obama’s DREAM Act executive order will allow their children to stay. Although these unaccompanied minors soon realize they do not qualify for the DREAM Act, they are not swiftly deported. According to the 2008 federal law, they must be housed in a U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) facility and resettled with a family member or sponsor in the U.S. until their guaranteed asylum hearing can take place. On average, it takes about 35 days before a child is resettled. Due to current backlogs in the immigration court system, the wait for an asylum hearing could take years. According to certain reports, we currently deport approximately 1,800 children per year.
As you can see, a perfect storm has been created. An ill-conceived executive order has drawn undocumented children to our borders. A 2008 anti-trafficking law, while well-intentioned, now handcuffs our border security personnel. A severely backlogged immigration court has prevented swift hearings and deportations when appropriate.
To deal with the border surge of unaccompanied minors, the Obama Administration requested $3.7 billion in emergency supplemental funding from Congress. Unfortunately, the Administration’s plan does not address the 2008 law which prohibits our border enforcement personnel from expediting deportations.
Congressman Young has said that while time is of the essence, lawmakers must also take great care to craft an emergency taxpayer funding package in a way that actually addresses the problems of this crisis. He will not support a package which simply gives President Obama a blank check without meaningfully addressing the underlying causes of the problem.