This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/10/white-house-senate-child-migrant-crisis
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| White House faces Senate opposition over $3.7bn for child migrant crisis | White House faces Senate opposition over $3.7bn for child migrant crisis |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| White House efforts to respond to a wave of child migrants from central America faced growing opposition in Congress on Thursday, as both Democrats and Republicans questioned aspects of the president's plan to tackle the crisis. | White House efforts to respond to a wave of child migrants from central America faced growing opposition in Congress on Thursday, as both Democrats and Republicans questioned aspects of the president's plan to tackle the crisis. |
| An exasperated-sounding Barack Obama lambasted Republicans during a speech in Austin, Texas, in which he compared himself to Mark Wahlberg's character in Martin Scorsese's 2006 Oscar-winning film The Departed. The president said: “I'm the guy doing his job. You must be the other guy.” | An exasperated-sounding Barack Obama lambasted Republicans during a speech in Austin, Texas, in which he compared himself to Mark Wahlberg's character in Martin Scorsese's 2006 Oscar-winning film The Departed. The president said: “I'm the guy doing his job. You must be the other guy.” |
| Yet despite increasing partisan rancour over Obama's request for $3.7bn in emergency funding to deal with the 57,000 unaccompanied children who have been trafficked over the Mexican border, the president faces criticism from within his own party. | Yet despite increasing partisan rancour over Obama's request for $3.7bn in emergency funding to deal with the 57,000 unaccompanied children who have been trafficked over the Mexican border, the president faces criticism from within his own party. |
| Senate foreign affairs chairman Robert Menendez, who led efforts to pass wider immigration reform, said he would oppose administration requests to repeal parts of a 2008 anti-trafficking law which is blamed for encouraging the recent influx of children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. | Senate foreign affairs chairman Robert Menendez, who led efforts to pass wider immigration reform, said he would oppose administration requests to repeal parts of a 2008 anti-trafficking law which is blamed for encouraging the recent influx of children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. |
| The law stipulates that unaccompanied children arriving from countries that do not directly border the US must be allowed to remain while their asylum cases are processed. | The law stipulates that unaccompanied children arriving from countries that do not directly border the US must be allowed to remain while their asylum cases are processed. |
| Both the White House and Republicans have called for the law to be reviewed, in the light of growing evidence that it has encouraged child trafficking by encouraging parents to think their children will be allowed to stay once they make it to US soil. | Both the White House and Republicans have called for the law to be reviewed, in the light of growing evidence that it has encouraged child trafficking by encouraging parents to think their children will be allowed to stay once they make it to US soil. |
| A growing number of Republicans are also critical of the administration's plans to spend roughly half of the emergency funding on dealing with children already in the country, claiming a greater priority should be placed on immediate repatriation. | A growing number of Republicans are also critical of the administration's plans to spend roughly half of the emergency funding on dealing with children already in the country, claiming a greater priority should be placed on immediate repatriation. |
| During a hearing of the Senate appropriation committee to consider the request, ranking member Richard Shelby said the president was doing little to secure the border or enforce existing immigration rules. | During a hearing of the Senate appropriation committee to consider the request, ranking member Richard Shelby said the president was doing little to secure the border or enforce existing immigration rules. |
| “I personally have no confidence that pouring billions into the current immigration system will solve the crisis,” he said. | “I personally have no confidence that pouring billions into the current immigration system will solve the crisis,” he said. |
| “If we continue to double down on the same failed immigration policies, where does that take us in 2016 and beyond?” | “If we continue to double down on the same failed immigration policies, where does that take us in 2016 and beyond?” |
| Shelby's scepticism was matched by other Republicans on the committee, including relative moderates such as Susan Collins of Maine, who blamed Obama's 2012 decision to allow long-term undocumented child immigrants in the US to remain as a bigger cause of the current influx. | Shelby's scepticism was matched by other Republicans on the committee, including relative moderates such as Susan Collins of Maine, who blamed Obama's 2012 decision to allow long-term undocumented child immigrants in the US to remain as a bigger cause of the current influx. |
| However, Congress was warned that if it did not act, the current crisis would swiftly deplete existing enforcement resources. | However, Congress was warned that if it did not act, the current crisis would swiftly deplete existing enforcement resources. |
| “Doing nothing is not an option,” said homeland security secretary Jeh Johnson, who told the committee the supplemental spending request was “an absolute necessity”. | “Doing nothing is not an option,” said homeland security secretary Jeh Johnson, who told the committee the supplemental spending request was “an absolute necessity”. |
| “At our current burn rate, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will run out of money in August and Customs and Border Protection by mid-September,” he said. | “At our current burn rate, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will run out of money in August and Customs and Border Protection by mid-September,” he said. |
| The Democratic committee chair, Barbara Mikulski, asked Congress to put its differences on immigration aside, for the sake of what she referred to as a “refugee crisis”. | The Democratic committee chair, Barbara Mikulski, asked Congress to put its differences on immigration aside, for the sake of what she referred to as a “refugee crisis”. |
| “I know there are many views on immigration reform but I urge my colleagues that today's topic is not about immigration reform,” she said. “It is about meeting this refugee crisis.” | “I know there are many views on immigration reform but I urge my colleagues that today's topic is not about immigration reform,” she said. “It is about meeting this refugee crisis.” |
| House speaker John Boehner, however, has made it clear that the president's plan is even less likely to pass the lower chamber than it is the Senate. | House speaker John Boehner, however, has made it clear that the president's plan is even less likely to pass the lower chamber than it is the Senate. |
| “This is a problem of the president’s own making,” Boehner said at a press conference on Thursday. “He’s been president for five and half years. When is he going to take responsibility for something?” | “This is a problem of the president’s own making,” Boehner said at a press conference on Thursday. “He’s been president for five and half years. When is he going to take responsibility for something?” |
| Obama, who had sounded more optimistic of Republican co-operation during a speech in Dallas on Wednesday, did not address the immigration crisis directly on Thursday. He was heckled by Latino protestors during the speech. | Obama, who had sounded more optimistic of Republican co-operation during a speech in Dallas on Wednesday, did not address the immigration crisis directly on Thursday. He was heckled by Latino protestors during the speech. |
| As Obama spoke in Texas, journalists were permitted to visit a temporary shelter housing more than 1,000 migrant children at Fort Sill army base in Lawton, Oklahoma, 88 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The conditions in which children are being held by US officials after they reach the border has been the subject of controversy: the American Civil Liberties Union has alleged widespread verbal physical and sexual abuse of children at the hands of border officials. | |
| By the time migrant children reach facilites such as the one at Fort Sill, they are in the care of the US health and human services department. The Fort Sill centre is home to 1,160 minors who are in the US as “unaccompanied alien children”. | |
| Tusla congressman James Bridenstine was turned away from the base last week when he attempted to tour the facility, a move that angered local politicians. Oklahoma's Republican governor, Mary Fallin, criticised the Obama administration for the lack of transparency at the centre. | |
| On Thursday, members of the media were taken of a tour of the facility under strictly controlled circumstances. No recording devices were allowed and reporters were not permitted to ask questions or interact with children or staff. | |
| An Associated Press reporter described how boys and girls were segregated into 60-bed dormitories inside a three-storey brick barracks complex typically used for incoming army recruits. During Thursday's visit, many of the boys played soccer outside, while girls were receiving classroom instruction and doing arts and crafts, the AP reported, noting the heavy restrictions placed on reporters. | |
| Bridenstine, a Republican, urged the media to not accept the restrictions. “The idea of no recording devices, no questions, and no interactions is not acceptable. This violates the first amendment,” he said. “This is not transparent. HHS is trying to muzzle the media and hide the human tragedy that has resulted directly from the administration’s failure to enforce the law.” | |
| Fallin's spokesman, Alex Weintz, expressed concern about the restrictions. “The governor has the same concerns about transparency that congressman Bridenstine has. During the governor’s tour last month, she and her staff were not allowed to take pictures. While the governor was pleased to hear reporters were allowed to take a look at the shelter, she was disappointed about the broad restrictions that were placed on them.” |