[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 486 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 486
Expressing the sense of the Senate that President Obama should take
immediate action to mitigate the humanitarian crisis along the
international border between the United States and Mexico involving
unaccompanied migrant children and to prevent future crises.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 26, 2014
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Coats, Mr. Boozman, and Mr.
McCain) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that President Obama should take
immediate action to mitigate the humanitarian crisis along the
international border between the United States and Mexico involving
unaccompanied migrant children and to prevent future crises.
Whereas there is a growing humanitarian crisis along the international border
between the United States and Mexico;
Whereas the United States welcomes lawful immigrants and has established
appropriate channels for the lawful admission of refugees;
Whereas, since October 2013, officials in the Department of Homeland Security
have apprehended more than 47,000 unaccompanied migrant children after
they crossed that border without legal authorization;
Whereas the majority of these children have arrived in the United States through
the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas but the effects of this surge in
illegal immigration have been felt across the United States;
Whereas this surge in illegal immigration has undermined the ability of the
Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies to
protect the United States from criminal and national security threats;
Whereas the vast majority of these children have traveled to the United States
from countries in Central America, a journey of more than 1,000 miles
that traverses some of the most dangerous territory in the Western
Hemisphere and smuggling routes operated by drug cartels and other
transnational criminal organizations;
Whereas these transnational criminal organizations routinely commit acts of
human trafficking, sexual assault, exploitation, kidnapping, and
homicide against children who are the victims of their human smuggling
operations;
Whereas children making this journey face other grave dangers such as riding on
top of crowded railroad cars, dehydration, heat exposure, and drowning;
Whereas it is unknown how many children making this journey have perished or
become victims of violent crime while traveling to the United States;
Whereas it is the duty of the United States Government to identify and provide
humanitarian relief to any unaccompanied migrant child who is--
(1) the victim of a crime;
(2) a refugee;
(3) an asylee; or
(4) eligible for any other form of immigration relief under the
immigration laws;
Whereas the current and previous administration, each headed by a President
belonging to a different political party, have failed to adequately
secure the international border between the United States and Mexico and
enforce the immigration laws;
Whereas, beginning in 2010, President Obama and the Secretary of Homeland
Security announced a series of executive actions, public statements, and
enforcement decisions that have created a misperception outside of the
United States that children entering the United States without legal
authorization will receive relief from immigration enforcement
consequences;
Whereas these executive actions and the continuing failures of President Obama
and the Secretary of Homeland Security to adequately secure the
international border between the United States and Mexico and enforce
the immigration laws are a proximate and material cause of the growing
humanitarian crisis along the international border between the United
States and Mexico;
Whereas the failure of the United States Government to enforce the immigration
laws has undermined trust in the commitment of the United States
Government to enforcing such laws;
Whereas the Senate must do everything in its power to mitigate the growing
humanitarian threat along the international border between the United
States and Mexico and to prevent additional unaccompanied migrant
children from making the dangerous journey to the United States; and
Whereas this cannot be accomplished until President Obama has demonstrated to
people of the United States that he is serious about stopping this
humanitarian crisis and preventing similar crises in the future by
enforcing the immigration laws: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that President Obama
should--
(1) publicly declare that no deferred action program
granting relief from immigration enforcement shall apply to any
unaccompanied migrant child who unlawfully enters the United
States;
(2) publicly discourage people in Central America and
elsewhere from sending their children on a dangerous journey
through Mexico to the United States;
(3) begin fully enforcing the immigration laws;
(4) ensure that each State that is affected by the surge in
unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States has
the resources needed by that State to address this crisis while
ensuring that such children are treated humanely; and
(5) work with the Government of Mexico and the governments
of countries in Central America to improve security along the
international borders between Mexico and Guatemala, and Mexico
and Belize.
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