The debate in Congress over the surge of illegal alien minors into the U.S. continued last week with two hearings in the House of Representatives. On Tuesday, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing entitled, "Dangerous Passage: The Growing Problem of Unaccompanied Children Crossing the Border" with Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson as the main witness. On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a more politically charged hearing entitled, "An Administration-Made Disaster: The South Texas Border Surge of Unaccompanied Minors" with a panel primarily of law enforcement officials.
During the Homeland Security hearing, Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said the Obama Administration's lax enforcement policies, and not Central American violence, is responsible for the surge. "The tragic fact is these children are making a dangerous journey based on misinformation and the false promise of amnesty," McCaul charged. (
McCaul opening remarks, June 24, 2014) McCaul said the rough conditions in Central America "are not new," adding that it is "beyond dispute" that the failure to enforce immigration laws "shapes behavior and encourages people to come to our country illegally." (
Id.) McCaul called on the President to send the National Guard down to the Texas-Mexico border to address the crisis. (
BGov Transcript, June 24, 2014)
Several Committee Republicans accused the Administration of being aware of the problem since at least January but doing nothing to prevent the surge. Specifically, the Members cited an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bid placed on January 29 seeking federal contractors to help transport unaccompanied alien minors. (
BGov Transcript, June 24, 2014;
see also "Escort Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children", Jan. 29, 2014) Remarkably, the ad indicates that there will be approximately 65,000 unaccompanied alien minors needing transport this year which matches the estimate Obama Administration officials gave earlier this month. (
"Escort Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children";
see alsoFAIR Legislative Update, June 4, 2014) With this newly acquired information, McCaul said it is clear DHS has turned a "blind eye to the warning signs," adding that "few concrete actions have been taken." (
BGov Transcript, June 24, 2014)
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