[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 101 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 486--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

  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:

                              S. Res. 486

       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
         Resolved, 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.

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