The U.S. Senate last night approved an amendment to the Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2016 that would support efforts to prevent another wave of unaccompanied minor children from crossing over the U.S. Mexico border, which caused a serious humanitarian crisis in border states such as Arizona and Texas last summer.
Specifically, the amendment supports the establishment of a deficit-neutral reserve fund that would enable U.S. officials to expeditiously remove unlawful entrants from non-border countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
“Over the next few months, the seasonal spike in illegal migration from Central America and Mexico will begin, and children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador will put themselves at the mercy of human smugglers working for transnational criminal organizations operating across our border,” Senator John McCain said. “Many of these children never make it to the United States, falling victim to violence and exploitation. Despite this impending situation, the President has requested $24 million for the apprehension and care of unaccompanied minors with a contingency of up to $134 million – a stop-gap solution that will not deter these children from attempting this dangerous journey in the first place. We are pleased that the Senate supports our solution to fund the expeditious removal of children who illegally cross over the U.S.-Mexico border into Arizona and other border states. There is no greater deterrent to this activity than demonstrating that illegal migrants are not able to remain in the United States.”
“Mr. President, this amendment is simple,” said Senator McCain. “It says that children who show up at our border will not be allowed to stay. They will be returned to the country that they came from. Right now they are being transported up by the lowest form of life that ever existed on the Earth. Young women are being raped, people are being killed and molested, and the drug cartels are the ones that are bringing them [across the border]. This has got to stop… I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment.”
Last year, 73,470 unaccompanied children entered the U.S. illegally and were apprehended by Customs and Border Protection, and thousands of migrants were transported to an emergency processing center in Nogales, Arizona.
Unaccompanied minor children (UAC) continue to stream into Arizona.