[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 114 (Monday, July 21, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4643-S4645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IMMIGRATION

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, from the beginning of our Nation we have 
had our challenges. We have had big challenges and little challenges, 
and somehow, some way, America has always risen to those challenges and 
addressed those in a way that was in the best interest not only of the 
present generation but future generations as well.
  During those times, it was not true that our leaders always saw 
things the same way or agreed with each other 100 percent, but they saw 
greater value in trying to solve the Nation's problems rather than just 
saying: This is too hard; we can't agree, so we quit. That is not our 
tradition. That is not our heritage.
  But looking at the present situation here in Washington, DC--and in 
particular the Senate--I find myself sometimes wondering whether those 
days have passed us by. I hope not, but I sometimes wonder whether the 
youth of America will witness in their lives some of the great attempts 
to address our Nation's challenges they read about in their history 
books.

  Right now we know we have an urgent humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-
Mexico border, more specifically in the State of Texas. I was back in 
McAllen, TX, on Friday, and I was grateful to see a number of our 
colleagues who were there: Senator Hirono, Senator Blumenthal, Senator 
Murkowski, as well as a number of House Members, seeing for themselves 
what the crisis consists of and exploring what might be some of the 
possible solutions.
  I was meeting with Congressman Cuellar, who is from Laredo, TX, and 
with a number of local officials in the Rio Grande Valley. Many of them 
have expressed the same wish that I had expressed and Congressman 
Cuellar had expressed. They wished the President would come down to the 
Rio Grande Valley and see for himself what we have seen. We know he had 
an opportunity to do that a couple weeks ago and chose not to do so, 
but they said the invitation is still outstanding. They would love to 
see him. The least you think the President might consider doing is 
congratulating the professional efforts of our Border Patrol and other 
law enforcement specialists who were down there doing an amazing job. 
Of course, FEMA and other Federal agencies are on the ground as well. 
That invitation is still outstanding, and I think the President would 
benefit from seeing this crisis for himself.
  What I saw were children packed into detention facilities that were 
filled to overflowing, some with only a single toilet in the room, and 
conditions you would not want your children to be in. We learned even 
more about the horrific journey from Central America

[[Page S4644]]

through Mexico up to South Texas that many of these children had 
endured, and the truth is some of them didn't make it. Some of them who 
started this horrific journey from Central America simply died in the 
process. Those who did not die were subjected to horrific abuse, 
kidnapped, being held for ransom, women and girls being sexually 
assaulted enroute, because these corridors are controlled by 
transnational criminal organizations is what we call them--in other 
words, gangs, cartels--that view these children and migrants as 
commodities.
  For a long time they have been selling drugs because drugs make them 
a lot of money. Now they realize they can transport children and adults 
because they make them a lot of money too. And if you just figure it 
out, if they can figure a way to move tens of thousands--or so far 
57,000 children since October of last year--at $5,000 each, that is a 
lot of money. So these criminal organizations are reaping riches as a 
result of this sordid trafficking of human beings, and communities are 
being overrun and government resources are being strained.
  The administration has said there is a humanitarian crisis, and I 
agree. They have also said--and this is Secretary Johnson among 
others--that a loophole in a law passed in 2008 is one source of the 
problem. Is it the only source of the problem? No, I don't think that 
is true. I think there is also an impression that somehow the United 
States and this administration are less than fully committed to 
enforcing our immigration laws.
  If you read the intelligence gathered by the Department of Homeland 
Security from many of the migrants, including children who have been 
detained, many of them report being told there would be a permiso or 
basically a permission slip or visa issued to them if they were able to 
make it to the United States. So there is the combination of lack of 
detention facilities and the requirement of the Department of Homeland 
Security to turn these children and others over to Health and Human 
Services, but then they would be released based upon their promise to 
return at a future court date. This is what has been interpreted as 
permission to enter the country and stay.
  So I know Secretary Johnson of the Department of Homeland Security 
understands the problem, although the President has a political 
problem. Many of the President's most ardent supporters are saying: We 
hope the President will just request money, but in the end we hope he 
will go even further with the deferred action Executive order that he 
issued in 2012 for the so-called DREAMers. Those are kids who obviously 
came into the United States at a young age with their parents but are 
boxed in; while they can get an education, they cannot get a job.
  Rather than asking for a solution to this problem, the President has 
indeed asked for a blank check, and I for one am not for giving it to 
him. I am for doing what is compassionate. I am for treating these 
children and all immigrants and all human beings, for that matter, with 
the dignity and respect they deserve by virtue of their status as human 
beings. But we also need to realize that America cannot endlessly 
accept a flood of humanity from countries around the world who want to 
come to the United States, especially through an illegal smuggling 
system that does not respect their dignity as human beings or our laws. 
We simply cannot absorb or assimilate into America an uncontrolled flow 
of people from around the world.
  Americans are the most generous people in the world when it comes to 
our immigration policies. We naturalize about 800,000 people a year, 
accept them into this great country and accept them as American 
citizens. But we simply cannot allow this sort of uncontrolled wave of 
humanity and expect to be able to deal with them in a dignified and 
appropriate way. We simply cannot continue to feed this business model 
of transnational criminal organizations and cartels that profit from 
their own criminality and for exploiting these children and other 
migrants.
  I know in this political environment putting forth a solution is 
tough because usually what happens is you get attacked from the right 
and the left, which usually tells you that you are probably doing the 
right thing. But it is worth the effort to try to find a solution to 
this problem. It requires all of us to take our responsibilities when 
it comes to serving the public seriously; and it requires us to put 
forward solutions knowing that we are not going to come up with a 
perfect solution, but if we can come up with one that moves the ball 80 
percent down the field, that is not bad. That is not a bad day's work. 
Certainly if we can help make somebody's life a little bit better or 
protect them from some of the horrific consequences of inaction, it is 
worth it.
  I have--as the Presiding Officer knows--partnered with one of my 
colleagues in the House who happens to be a Democrat, Henry Cuellar, in 
a bipartisan, bicameral solution to this human crisis. If somebody has 
a better idea, we are all ears. But all I can hear is crickets. I don't 
hear a lot of other ideas. There are some and we ought to consider 
those, but mainly I haven't heard anybody come up with another solution 
to this loophole that is being exploited by these transnational 
criminal cartels other than the one that Congressman Cuellar and I have 
proposed.
  There have been some who have expressed concerns about the 
legislation. On the right there are some who have said this bill would 
make it easier for unaccompanied minors to achieve legal and asylum 
status. That is wrong. The HUMANE Act, which is what we call this 
legislation, would not change current law at all with regard to either 
a claim for asylum or achieving legal status. It would, however, make 
sure that current law is actually enforced by speeding up court dates 
and the removal process for unaccompanied children who don't satisfy 
some of these exceptions.
  It is also worth reminding the American people that there are a 
number of fraud prevention measures in our current asylum laws that the 
HUMANE Act would not change, and--and this is important--more than 70 
percent of those seeking asylum in the United States last year--more 
than 70 percent of those seeking asylum last year in the United States 
were ultimately not awarded that status. In other words, this is a 
rather narrow provision.

  Some have also argued that the HUMANE Act would somehow expunge the 
removal orders that were issued to minors who came to the country 
illegally during the current surge and have already been released to 
State-based family members or sponsors. What our bill would actually do 
is allow the U.S. Government to replace those removal orders with new 
nonappealable orders that would allow for an expedited repatriation 
process for the children who were not qualified for asylum status or 
were not a victim of human trafficking.
  On the left we have heard the claim that many of these children will 
not obtain the necessary legal representation they need. Wrong again. 
The HUMANE Act would not change current law which requires Health and 
Human Services to ensure to the greatest extent practicable that legal 
representation is provided for unaccompanied children.
  I have not heard many of my friends on the other side of the aisle 
who actually supported the 2008 law unanimously complain about this 
aspect; in other words, what they are complaining about now in terms of 
inadequate legal representation they actually voted for in 2008.
  Some worry that this bill would be a vehicle for comprehensive 
immigration reform, to which I would ask: Have you witnessed the 
dysfunction in the U.S. Senate? Do you actually think there is any real 
chance we will pass comprehensive immigration reform through both 
Houses of Congress this year?
  Well, some have said there is also concern there are not enough 
protections in the bill for children. Yet we have added protections 
that don't already exist under current law, such as an expedited court 
hearing before a judge and for those credible claims, stronger 
safeguards to ensure children are not released in the hands of 
dangerous criminals or those who would abuse them. So after identifying 
a problem and a cause, one would think it would be easy for Republicans 
and Democrats, Congress and the White House, to come together on a 
solution. You would think that would be something we would do at a 
minimum in

[[Page S4645]]

fulfilling our job description. Sadly, the President has not seen fit 
to come forward to embrace the solution that is in front of him. 
Indeed, from press accounts we have learned that while he understands 
the nature of the problem, as does Secretary Johnson, and what would be 
necessary to fix it, the President simply does not want to disappoint 
some of the more radical activists who essentially say we ought to open 
the floodgates to people from anywhere around the world and let them 
come in at their will.
  Well, I am discouraged to hear the remarks of the majority leader 
where he said he is not optimistic that we will be able to address this 
issue constructively and find a solution before we recess in August. I 
would think that would be a matter of some urgency because as we have 
seen since 2011, these numbers seem to double every year. In other 
words, they start out relatively low. They doubled from 2011 to 2012, 
from 2012 to 2013, and from 2013 to 2014. It is estimated there could 
be as many as 90,000 unaccompanied children detained at our southern 
border this year. So if it is 90,000 this year and we don't do anything 
about it, what will it be next year--180,000?
  This is a bad situation that we have within our capacity to address 
if we can find a way somehow to do so, but it is going to take a 
President, it is going to take a majority leader, and it is going to 
take all of us who choose not to just take the easy way but to take the 
hard way, one that will lead to a solution to this humanitarian crisis. 
It won't happen just by throwing money at it without offering any real 
reforms that will actually fix what is broken in the 2008 law.
  I close on this note, again, to plead with my colleagues: If you have 
a better idea, please come and tell us about it. We may want to embrace 
it. Is this perfect? No. Does this solve all that is broken in our 
immigration laws? No, it does not. This is a narrowly targeted solution 
to a national crisis and one that will, hopefully, positively impact 
thousands of children.
  For those who want to see more, I would say this is a moment to do 
what we can, when we can and to show we are serious about the job of 
governing and coming up with responsible solutions.
  If we can demonstrate to the American people we can actually do that 
on a bipartisan basis and fix this, relatively speaking, smaller but 
nevertheless urgent problem, maybe we can earn their trust enough to 
tackle some bigger problems in the future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

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