Sen. Cruz Legislation to Keep Illegal Immigrant Families Together

Sen. Ted Cruz announced new legislation Monday to stop family separations at the border. The Cruz proposal calls for a massive infusion of money and manpower to solve the problem without going back to the failed policy of catch-and-release.

While Cruz said “he is appalled by the images from the border showing befuddled children being taken from their parents,” he “rejected Democrats’ answer of releasing the illegal immigrant families, saying that would create a loophole more migrants would try to exploit by arriving as families.”

Instead, Cruz proposes fast hearings, quick asylum for those who qualify and speedy deportations for those who don’t qualify. Cruz also proposes keeping families together in detention they are granted asylum or are deported:

All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers. This must stop. Now. We can end this crisis by passing the legislation I am introducing this week.

Repeatedly, I have visited detention facilities tragically housing young children. For far too long, children have been the greatest victims of our broken immigration system, with tens of thousands of children who were detained under the Obama Administration and continuing through today, and with far too many of those children facing horrific physical or sexual assault from criminal human traffickers.

The answer is not what congressional Democrats are proposing: simply releasing illegal aliens and returning to the failed policy of ‘catch and release.’ Rather, we should fix the backlog in immigration cases, remove the legal barriers to swift processing, and resolve asylum cases on an expedited basis.

While these cases are pending, families should stay together. Children belong with their mothers and fathers. Once their cases have been adjudicated – under my legislation, in no longer than 14 days – those who meet the legal standard should be granted asylum and those who don’t should be immediately returned to their home country.

We can fix this. If my Democratic colleagues will join me, not play politics but work to solve the problem, we can start to end family separation this week. And, we can honor the rule of law.

Sen. Cruz’s “Protect Kids and Parents Act,” will:

• Double the number of federal immigration judges, from roughly 375 to 750.
• Authorize new temporary shelters, with accommodations to keep families together.
• Mandate that illegal immigrant families must be kept together, absent aggravated criminal conduct or threat of harm to the children.
• Provide for expedited processing and review of asylum cases, so that—within 14 days—those who meet the legal standards will be granted asylum, and those who do not will be immediately returned to their home countries.

Perhaps Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford can support Sen. Cruz’s bill. Yesterday, Sasse complained that “Changing from catch-and-release does not require adopting the wicked family separation policy.” Sasse says he is working with Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford to address the issue.

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