Multiple Lawmakers Offer Legislation to Fix the Outrage Happening on the Southern Border

Last updated on: June 19, 2018 at 5:35 pm by Susan Wright

Multiple Lawmakers Offer Legislation to Fix the Outrage Happening on the Southern Border 2018-06-19T17:35:39-04:00 Susan Wright

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Here’s a shocker – and evidence that House Republicans are not completely tone deaf over just how bad the message is they’re sending with the “zero tolerance” policy that is separating families at the border.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC), one of President Trump’s loyalists in Congress, has seen the value of cutting bait quick and working towards a change in the policy, in spite of Trump’s insistence that the policy stay as-is, in order to serve as a deterrent and negotiating tool.

Meadows introduced his own legislation on Tuesday that would do two things: Allow for kids to be detained with their parents, and tighten up requirements for asylum seekers.

“We need to better enforce our immigration laws, but we can do so while keeping parents and children together. I believe my bill will help do that,” said Meadows, who visited the White House earlier on Monday.

Meadows isn’t the only lawmaker who sees the problem with frightened kids being pulled away from their parents.

Similar legislation is being proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx), and Senator John Cornyn (R-Tx).

Speaking of Senator Cruz, his proposed legislation calls for more resources at the border to deal with the problem.

“All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers,” Cruz wrote in a release. “This must stop. Now. We can end this crisis by passing the legislation I am introducing this week.”

The provisions of the legislation, according to the news release, include:

Doubling the number of federal immigration judges, from roughly 375 to 750.

Authorizing new temporary shelters with accommodations to keep families together.

Mandating that immigrant families be kept together, absent aggravated criminal conduct or threat of harm to children.

Providing for expedited processing and review of asylum cases so that — within 14 days — those who meet the legal standards will be granted asylum and those who do not will be immediately returned to their home countries.

How this goes over with President Trump remains to be seen. He has insisted that there would be no additional judges and he wants the leverage of pain to force the Democrats to deal. He doesn’t understand what it means for Republicans at the voting booth.

Meadows’ offering is a bit tougher, so if he can convince the president that this will work, it may be the way to go.

Not only would it raise asylum thresholds in an attempt to crack down an “asylum fraud,” but the bill also would treat unaccompanied minors from Mexico the same as minors from other countries that don’t border the U.S., among other things.

“U.S. border officials need better tools to control the system, keep out violent criminals, and identify those who may be seeking to illegitimately take advantage of our asylum laws,” Meadows said. “By cutting down on asylum fraud, we can keep families together without running a greater risk of traffickers or violent criminals using children to take advantage of the rules.”

And that’s an absolute necessity. Human traffickers are dealing in kiddie cargo, so those precautions have to be taken.

Otherwise, just a reminder that most of the problems with illegal immigration are not happening on the border. They’re happening with visa overstays, so maybe a look into the visa system is in order, at some point.

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immigrant children detainees

Rep. Mark Meadows

Senator Ted Cruz

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