Central American Migrant Crisis: Questions for House Republicans
As the House Republicans get ready to release their plan to tackle the Central American migrant crisis, we prepared a few questions members of the media and public should feel free to ask members of the House GOP conference this week:
- The Administration is reporting a fairly substantial decline in the migrant flow over the past few weeks. Are you encouraged by this? Why do you think this might be happening? Was it the paid advertising in the three countries and the visit by the Vice President? Recent crackdown on human smugglers on SW border? Something else?
- Will you be including the King Amendment, the revocation of prosecutorial discretion and DACA you passed in 2013, in your package to be negotiated with the Senate? Many Republicans including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Texas State Senator Dan Patrick have argued that DACA was the cause of the migrant crisis. Do you agree?
- Will HR15 – the House version of the Senate immigration bill, which includes the House Homeland Security Committee border strategy - be included in your immigration package? The President, the Senate and a majority of the House would like it to be, and Speaker Boehner has repeatedly said he would like to pass it this year. If not, what is the rationale for not passing a major, 9 years in the making, growth producing, deficit reducing, bipartisan immigration reform bill in the middle of a migration crisis? What exactly is the hold up here?
- What specifically do you object to in the President’s plan to resolve the crisis? How is your plan better, and more likely to bring a swift and rapid end to the crisis?
- Some say this is a border crisis, and more needs to be done to secure the border. Can you elaborate on that, and comment on data showing significant improvements in the security of the border in recent years? (for more on how the border is safer today visit here).
- For example, crime is down on the US side of the border, flow of undocumented immigrants into the US is a fraction of what it was in the Clinton and Bush era, the border patrol is far more effective now and there is growing evidence that Obama era deportations of those entering the country illegally has helped strengthen deterrence? What specific data do you have indicating that the border is less safe today due to President’s Obama policies?
- Some border sheriffs have said it would be far better to add more local law enforcement in the Rio Grande Valley than to send the National Guard. Do you agree? What exactly will the National Guard do at the border that isn’t already being proposed in the current Administration’s plans? If they are there to “observe,” isn’t this a waste of money? What problem are we solving here?
- If we are to expedite the deportation of minors at the border, denying them current legal protections that allow them under certain conditions to remain in the United States, are you worried that some number of these minors might be murdered upon returning home? What responsibility to the US have to ensure their safe repatriation? What does “safe repatriation” mean to you?
- Do you have any ideas about what we can do to help the three Central American countries effected by the crisis? How can we help them battle the growing power of the cartels in their country and create greater economic opportunity and citizen security? Do we need something like a Plan Colombia for these three countries, and would you commit $3-5b over the next 10 years to see it through?
This post has been updated as the pace of debate has picked up on Capitol Hill.