[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 96 (Thursday, June 19, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H5499-H5500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutieerrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIEERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I usually come here to talk about the 
ongoing crisis in American cities and towns related to our unrelenting 
deportation of moms and dads and longtime residents with no criminal 
history.
  There is no doubt we will see substantial action to dial back the 
record deportation this country has suffered over the past 5 years and 
a retargeting of deportations at criminals.
  The only question is whether the Republican majority gets its act 
together to participate in that process as legislators and leaders in 
the next 6 legislative days before the July 4 recess.
  Now, in addition to the deportation crisis, we face a new crisis 
quickly becoming a human tragedy of catastrophic proportions. Thousands 
and thousands of young children are fleeing Central America because 
they think it is their only option for survival.
  Faced with death threats, sexual assault, poverty, and no legal 
immigration options, little boys and girls are simply leaving their 
Central American countries by the tens of thousands.
  Some are coming to the United States to reunite with relatives, while 
many others are seeking asylum in any country they can get to, 
including this one.
  Girls as young as 11 and 12, threatened with rape in their own 
country, are risking rape, smugglers, murder, and exploitation for the 
slim chance of a life in the United States. Eighty percent are coming 
from just three countries--Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala--
countries that top the list of the highest murder rates in the world.
  Gangs, drugs, poverty, and hopelessness are driving kids as young as 
kindergartners to countries like Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the 
United States. It is a complex international crisis that does not have 
easy solutions.
  The Obama administration, Homeland Security, and FEMA are mobilizing 
like they would for a major natural disaster. They are trying to 
address each case one by one, following the laws of this country we 
have for unaccompanied minors, families, and asylumseekers.
  The first goal must be to get the children in a safe place. 
Eventually, some may pass the rigorous test for asylum. Others may be 
considered for legal status as victims of traffickers, but many have no 
legal avenue and had none to begin with.
  In many cases, children will face an immigration judge alone, without 
a lawyer and without a clue what is going on. The majority get orders 
of removal and face deportation immediately.
  I have urged parents in the home countries that the risks are too 
great, the dangers too real, and the survival rate too low to attempt 
such a perilous journey, but let's be clear, adults on all sides of the 
border are failing when children feel they have no way to survive, 
other than risking their lives to cross thousands of miles.
  I do not see the countries of Central America stepping up to take 
responsibility for the danger, dysfunction, death, and despair in their 
other countries, cities, and towns. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus 
told their embassies that in a very testy meeting yesterday.
  Nor do I see the United States taking responsibility for the 
insatiable appetite for drugs on our streets--that, in most cases, fuel 
the drug trafficking, gangs, and desperation in Central America.
  In Congress, we are quick to point fingers of blame--especially in an 
election year--but surely, we must accept some of the responsibility 
ourselves.
  For decades, no realistic legal immigration options have existed for 
most people, and this breeds a clandestine network of smugglers that 
feeds on desperation and hopelessness.
  Invading or propping up failing states on the other side of the 
world--like Iraq--has meant we have paid little attention to the 
failing states in our own backyard in this hemisphere.
  Opponents of immigration and immigration reform mock the children on 
their radio shows and have even cooked up a new conspiracy theory that 
claims that President Obama has been calling these children to our 
country, so he can put more of them on welfare, so

[[Page H5500]]

that these children, who can never become citizens, will somehow be 
allowed to vote for him. It is outrageous.
  We must not make light of this tragedy. These are children--desperate 
boys and girls who are being demonized after being brutally victimized 
by drug traffickers. Opponents of immigration are exploiting their 
desperation for political sport, but the stakes could not be higher for 
the Republican Party.
  With only 6 legislative days before the July 4 recess, Republican 
leaders have little or no time to demonstrate compassion and 
understanding of the immigration issue, enact real border security, 
allow legal immigration that feeds our economy, and get people who have 
lived here for decades on the books.
  Six days, Mr. Speaker, before this issue clobbers the Republican 
Presidential nominee in the 2016 election. You may have waited too long 
to act, but that is--as it always has been--up to you.

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