President Obama may request to change a Bush-era law to fast-track deportations of child migrants, whose numbers have been surging in recent months, a move that immigration reform advocates say could turn away many children who qualify for asylum in the United States.
A White House official confirmed to USA Today on Wednesday that the administration is considering making changes to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which requires that unaccompanied child migrants, excluding those from Canada or Mexico, who are apprehended by Border Patrol agents be held in custody by the Department of Health and Human Services before they can be transferred to the care of a family member or sponsor while awaiting trial in an immigration court. Thus far, children coming from Central American countries have been covered by these requirements, but the proposed changes would give them the same treatment as children arriving from Mexico and Canada.
The act, which was passed with bipartisan support in 2008 in an effort to protect child victims of human trafficking, specifies that unaccompanied child migrants from Canada and Mexico are subject to different procedures: Border Patrol agents must screen them within 48 hours to determine whether they would be at risk of harm if they were returned to their home country. If the agents decide there is no evidence the minor may be at risk, the child will be sent back. Extending this treatment to juvenile migrants from Central American countries would ramp up repatriations of those arriving in the recent surge of minors crossing the border.
Shawn Moran, vice president and spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, the Border Patrol’s union of about 17,000 agents and other employees, said he would welcome the change in the law.
“That’s something we’ve been encouraging for a while now,” he said. “We feel that [TVPRA] is helping to fuel this crisis. It’s the biggest part of the trend. In the beginning we thought it was the violence, but now it’s the word of mouth and the fact that we’ve released so many juveniles. Their belief is that they’re going to come to the United States and we’re going to release them because either there’s some form of amnesty or permits that are being issued for them to stay.” He added that field interviews with detainees showed that some two-thirds of unaccompanied child migrants were arriving based on these ideas.
If this 'TRULY' speeds up the ability to Deport these kids back to their native countries, I'M 110% FOR IT!
BUT ONLY if Congress could make sure that there is NO WAY (loophole) for Team Obama of weaseling out of doing the deportations in the changing of the Act.
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