House Speaker John Boehner cancelled the vote on the legislation designed to help alleviate some of the issues caused by the current border crisis. Among agreements that could not be reached were the amount of requested funding the President said was needed to deal with crisis and changes to the 2008 Child Trafficking law….
More than 57,500 unaccompanied children and teenagers have been apprehended after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally since October, overwhelming a system already plagued by backlogs and in need of significant resources. President Barack Obama requested $3.7 billion to deal with the crisis, and Senate Democrats proposed a $2.7 billion package. House Republicans introduced a bill to approve just a fraction of that sum — with the possibility of appropriating more funds later — with conditions many Democrats oppose, such as changing a 2008 law so unaccompanied minors from countries other than Mexico and Canada can be deported more quickly and sending the National Guard to the border.
The issue over the 2008 law, in particular, became a flashpoint in the debate. While the White House has voiced support for changing the law to allow for speedier deportations, most Democrats in Congress have voiced vehement opposition. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the bill an “unjust and inhumane proposal,” and Democratic members were urged to oppose it.
Statement issue by House Republican leadership…
This situation shows the intense concern within our conference – and among the American people – about the need to ensure the security of our borders and the president’s refusal to faithfully execute our laws. There are numerous steps the president can and should be taking right now, without the need for congressional action, to secure our borders and ensure these children are returned swiftly and safely to their countries.
Huh, Mr. Speaker? Are you suggesting the President use an executive order?
“Senator Reid agrees with House Republican leaders’ statement that President Obama has the authority to take steps on immigration reform on his own,” Jentleson (Reid’s aid) said. “He’s glad Republicans have come around and hopes this means they’ll be dropping their frivolous lawsuit against the President, instead of continuing to waste the American people’s time and money.”
House Republicans resurrected their bill to address the crisis at the U.S-Mexico border late on Thursday, and they are delaying a planned five-week recess in an attempt to pass the revived bill before Congress leaves town for its August recess.
House GOP leaders led a conference meeting Thursday afternoon in which the decision was made to stay at least one extra day in Washington. House Republicans are planning to meet at a 9 a.m. conference. However, plans could change at any minute. The latest move followed a chaotic day on Capitol Hill where House leaders abruptly postponed a scheduled vote on the bill and then pulled it from the day’s schedule.
According to House Republican sources, House leadership heard from a number of dissatisfied members who said it was imperative to pass something before recess…
Like every other bill that Obama has ever proposed this $3.7 billion dollar “fix” was a real dog. (TPP for one.) Why do we need $3.7 billion dollars to process 57,000 refugee kids? For that kind of money we could send all of them to collage in a few years. We should spend some money, certainly not $3.7 billion dollars, to set up additional processing centers and hire enough personnel to quickly handle the cases of these kids. Anybody over 21 should be processed back to where they came from. The rest can be settled in suitable locations. Once the minimum wage is raised to $10.10 an hour and the unemployment rate is at 0% we can revisit this issue.