S.Res. 486 — Introduced in Senate

III 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 486 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 26, 2014 Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Coats, Mr. Boozman, and Mr. McCain) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that President Obama should take immediate action to mitigate the humanitarian crisis along the international border between the United States and Mexico involving unaccompanied migrant children and to prevent future crises. Whereas there is a growing humanitarian crisis along the international border between the United States and Mexico; Whereas the United States welcomes lawful immigrants and has established appropriate channels for the lawful admission of refugees; Whereas, since October 2013, officials in the Department of Homeland Security have apprehended more than 47,000 unaccompanied migrant children after they crossed that border without legal authorization; Whereas the majority of these children have arrived in the United States through the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas but the effects of this surge in illegal immigration have been felt across the United States; Whereas this surge in illegal immigration has undermined the ability of the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies to protect the United States from criminal and national security threats; Whereas the vast majority of these children have traveled to the United States from countries in Central America, a journey of more than 1,000 miles that traverses some of the most dangerous territory in the Western Hemisphere and smuggling routes operated by drug cartels and other transnational criminal organizations; Whereas these transnational criminal organizations routinely commit acts of human trafficking, sexual assault, exploitation, kidnapping, and homicide against children who are the victims of their human smuggling operations; Whereas children making this journey face other grave dangers such as riding on top of crowded railroad cars, dehydration, heat exposure, and drowning; Whereas it is unknown how many children making this journey have perished or become victims of violent crime while traveling to the United States; Whereas it is the duty of the United States Government to identify and provide humanitarian relief to any unaccompanied migrant child who is— (1) the victim of a crime; (2) a refugee; (3) an asylee; or (4) eligible for any other form of immigration relief under the immigration laws; Whereas the current and previous administration, each headed by a President belonging to a different political party, have failed to adequately secure the international border between the United States and Mexico and enforce the immigration laws; Whereas, beginning in 2010, President Obama and the Secretary of Homeland Security announced a series of executive actions, public statements, and enforcement decisions that have created a misperception outside of the United States that children entering the United States without legal authorization will receive relief from immigration enforcement consequences; Whereas these executive actions and the continuing failures of President Obama and the Secretary of Homeland Security to adequately secure the international border between the United States and Mexico and enforce the immigration laws are a proximate and material cause of the growing humanitarian crisis along the international border between the United States and Mexico; Whereas the failure of the United States Government to enforce the immigration laws has undermined trust in the commitment of the United States Government to enforcing such laws; Whereas the Senate must do everything in its power to mitigate the growing humanitarian threat along the international border between the United States and Mexico and to prevent additional unaccompanied migrant children from making the dangerous journey to the United States; and Whereas this cannot be accomplished until President Obama has demonstrated to people of the United States that he is serious about stopping this humanitarian crisis and preventing similar crises in the future by enforcing the immigration laws: Now, therefore, be it That it is the sense of the Senate that President Obama should— (1) publicly declare that no deferred action program granting relief from immigration enforcement shall apply to any unaccompanied migrant child who unlawfully enters the United States; (2) publicly discourage people in Central America and elsewhere from sending their children on a dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States; (3) begin fully enforcing the immigration laws; (4) ensure that each State that is affected by the surge in unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States has the resources needed by that State to address this crisis while ensuring that such children are treated humanely; and (5) work with the Government of Mexico and the governments of countries in Central America to improve security along the international borders between Mexico and Guatemala, and Mexico and Belize.