Posted on 06/18/2018 7:11:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced emergency legislation Monday evening to keep immigrant families together after they cross the border into the United States.
The legislation follows comments Cruz made on Saturday that essentially called for more resources to adjudicate asylum claims. He also called for keeping immigrant kids with their parents as long as those adults are not associated with criminal activity.
"All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers," Cruz wrote in a release. "This must stop. Now. We can end this crisis by passing the legislation I am introducing this week."
The provisions of the legislation, according to the news release, include:
* Doubling the number of federal immigration judges, from roughly 375 to 750.
* Authorizing new temporary shelters with accommodations to keep families together.
* Mandating that immigrant families be kept together, absent aggravated criminal conduct or threat of harm to children.
* Providing 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.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Texas' senior senator and the second-ranking Senate Republican, said on the chamber floor earlier Monday that he, too, would introduce legislation on this front.
"It will include provisions that mitigate the problem of family separation while improving the immigration court process for unaccompanied children and families apprehended at the border," he said. "To the greatest extent possible, families presenting at ports of entry or apprehended crossing the border illegally will be kept together while waiting for their court hearings, which will be expedited.”
Cruz and Cornyn are part of a growing number of Republican federal lawmakers who are pushing back against the Trump Administration's recently implemented "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which has so far led to the separation of about 2,000 children from their parents at the border. House Republicans are currently reworking a compromise immigration bill that would modify — but not end — the "zero tolerance" policy, NPR reported Monday.
Cruz's Democratic rival in his fall re-election bid, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, spent part of the weekend demonstrating near a tent city in Tornillo, outside of El Paso.
It appears that Cruz would govern by optics only. Thank the Lrd we don’t have him as President. He’s only concerned with how HE LOOKS. With all those girlfriends in closets and such, you’d think he had a set, but clearly he does not. He is easy to own by his insistence on looking good. Reminds me of someone else [coughobamacough].
Ted’s W Bush roots are showing.
As has been proven, long ago, a LOT of this "we are family" stuff is a HOAX!
How about legislation to keep American families together if someone in the family breaks the law?
That ( I almost called him out for being that ), or just a political naif/moron/OPEN BORDER fool.
He would have lost to Hilary in a landslide!
Democrats won’t vote for it.
They don’t want a fix; they want a political issue.
Sure, keep rewarding the bastards for coming here illegally. Why don’t we give them phones too, so they can keep in touch with the families they left behind. I’m surprised Bambi didn’t do that.
If we could get past the animosity toward Sen. Cruz lingering since 2016, we might recognize this proposal as a good common sense solution. Almost none of the illegal border crossers qualify for asylum, therefore the vast majority would be returned to their home country within two weeks of apprehension. Immigration judges don't have a lifetime appointment therefore their number could be reduced any time they were no longer needed. Also, with a two week maximum processing time, housing needs would be limited as, after two weeks, there would be as many leaving as arriving.
Democrats don’t want a DACA fix either.
They want a wedge issue to make Trump look like a heartless ogre.
They have no interest in undocumented citizens except as political props.
How about backing the president instead of backstabbing him?
Never gonna happen - Democrats will never give the President credit.
Cruz’s bill is DOA.
Cruz is a total sell-out on some issues.
Such as this one.
Exactly.
Get past the animosity towards Ted Cruz?
How can we win a backstabs the president?
Has the EPA tested the water in the Senate building? I know most of Washington DC has water that would be considered toxic waste if there was any Republican nearby to blame (and pretty sure it still consistently tests worse than Flint, Michigan...)
If it ain’t the water, then I guess Ted went for treatment at the John McCain Center for Rehabilitating Republican Presidential Contenders.
By the way, raise your hand if this is what you wanted on the SCOTUS.
My exact objection to the proposal is that it is a stab in the back of President Trump.
Ted Cruz was very good at that during the primaries, and it looks like he has kept that skill handy.
Hard to tell which one...could be both :D
He knows that. He’s still running for president.
yes he did, and I think Cruz was doing so with an eye to some form of judicial action.
the second part is my impression from Cruz’s mannerisms and the expression on his face, but I’m probably wrong.
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