House Republicans have developed a party plan for tackling the wave of child immigrants entering the United States that includes deploying the National Guard to the border, changing trafficking laws to speed up processing of Central American children, and beefing up judicial and law enforcement resources:
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who led the GOP working group developing the party’s plan, billed her team’s recommendations as “common-sense, compassionate, but tough” during a presentation to the entire House Republican conference Wednesday.
Her recommendations set up a scramble to pass an emergency funding measure for the border before Congress breaks for a monthlong August recess at the end of next week.
[…]
Granger’s plan would change a 2008 human trafficking law to ensure that Central American children who do not wish to voluntarily return to their country receive an expedited immigration hearing within a week of being seen by child welfare officials.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) is also expected to discuss his version of a spending package to counter Obama’s requested $3.7 billion for the border. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are likely to provide funding at that egregious amount.
In addition to tweaking the 2008 human trafficking law, the House proposal would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a strategy to gain “operational control of the border”; create a third-party commission to set up metrics to measure progress on tightening up security on the border; deploy additional immigration judges; and ramp up efforts in Central American nations to stop illegal immigration before it starts, including launching “aggressive messaging campaigns” to dispel the myth that illegals can remain in the U.S. if they make it over the border.
While the House plan look good on paper, it will only be effective if it manages to pass both chambers; and with Senate Democrats so insistent on passing blanket amnesty, it will be an uphill battle.
