Two Texas lawmakers announced legislation Monday to speed removals of tens of thousands of Central American kids from the United States-Mexico border, as Washington searched for a solution to the growing crisis, according to The Associated Press.
The bill by Senator John Cornyn and Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, would allow U.S. Border Patrol agents to turn many of the kids around quickly at the border, the AP reported.
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, according to the AP.
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, the AP reported.
"The border region in Texas has been overwhelmed over the past few months by a deluge of undocumented immigrants from Central America," Cuellar said in a statement, according to the AP. "Today's legislation strengthens current law protecting unaccompanied children and responds to the crisis."
The bill comes as the White House is trying to get Congress to sign off on a $3.7 billion emergency spending request to deal with the situation at the border by adding more immigration judges and detention facilities, among other steps, the AP reported.
Republicans have made clear they won't agree to such spending without policy changes along the lines of what Cornyn and Cuellar are seeking, and the White House has indicated support for some such changes, but immigrant advocacy groups and key Senate Democrats are opposed, making it unclear if a deal can be struck in the three weeks that remain before Congress leaves Washington for its annual August recess, according to the AP.
