[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 101 (Monday, June 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3976-S3978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, earlier this year, this Chamber was full
of conversation about immigration. We had four bipartisan proposals
that all came to this floor. All four of them had votes. All four of
them had some engagement from different Members. All four of them
failed. While we didn't succeed in getting something passed and
resolved on immigration, I will note that over 70 Senators voted for at
least 1 of the 4 options that included wall funding, increased border
security, and naturalization for those students who are in DACA or
DACA-eligible. At least 70-plus Senators voted for those three options.
They were written in different ways in each bill, but they all had the
same basis. I was one of those.
Like many of my friends on both sides of the aisle, during the
debate, I said that Americans don't hold children accountable for the
actions of their parents. It has been a basic principle we have held
for a long time. We believe in the protection of children and the unity
of families. That is what we have been about. We have some debate about
that because some of this body believes a child is not a child until
you can see them, and some believe a child is a child even when they
are in the womb. But we do have unity about those individuals--that
when we can see them and know them as a child, that we keep them as a
family. Although you could strongly put me on the side of saying I
think a child is a child even when they are in the womb.
It is right for us to focus on families. Quite frankly, it is also
right for us focus on immigration law and to believe that we are a
nation of laws.
We have a great dilemma at this point happening around our border.
Let me set some context for this that I think is important, and I want
to make sure people understand.
We are a very open nation for immigration. We have been before, and
we are now.
[[Page S3977]]
Last Friday, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at a
naturalization ceremony in Oklahoma City and watch people from all over
the world take the oath, set aside their old country and become
citizens of the United States. I dare anyone to go to one of those
events and try to keep a dry eye. It is incredibly moving to watch
people have this event happen in their life that they will never
forget--they become an American. They didn't just come to America; they
are Americans. They have the exact same rights as anyone else in this
Chamber and live under the same law.
Now, 1.1 million people a year become naturalized citizens of the
United States. Each day, 500,000 people legally cross the border from
Mexico into the United States. We still have a debate on what happens
with those other individuals who aren't the 1.1 million who legally go
through the process to become U.S. citizens or the half a million
people a day who legally cross into the United States. What do we do
with those individuals who choose not to do it legally? It is a much
smaller number, but it is exceptionally contentious for us because we
are a compassionate nation, but we are also a nation that believes in
following the law--rightfully so. In fact, many people are fleeing from
countries where the law is ignored to come to a country like ours.
How did we get here? When a family is detained for illegally crossing
the border, the Department of Homeland Security has a longstanding
policy. It is not just for this administration; it is longstanding
policy not to separate children from their parents unless there is one
of three things that occur: DHS can't establish that the adult
traveling with the child is actually the guardian of the child or the
parent of the child. The second one is that they believe the child is
in danger--for instance, if there is a belief that the child has been
trafficked or abused. The third one is that the individual who is
traveling with the child--parent or guardian assumed--is being
prosecuted for a crime. Those are the three instances in which you
separate children from their families.
Throughout the last administration to this one, those individuals
were prosecuted, but the difference is, this administration has now
determined that they are going to prosecute more individuals when they
cross the border. The previous administrations would look the other
way. They would see individuals crossing the border, and they would
say: If they haven't committed some other crime besides crossing the
border--they would look the other way and allow them to come in, or
they would say: Here is what is called a notice to appear, and you can
go into the interior of the country and live in the United States, but
show up for a court hearing a year or two from now in someplace that
you want to go to.
The problem is, as the Trump Administration has noted, that the vast
majority of those individuals who were given a notice to appear at a
future court date never show up for that court date and they live
illegally in the United States.
Again, they are not one of the half a million people who each day
cross legally into the country; they are the small group of individuals
who chose to illegally cross into the country. They are given the
notice to appear and then don't appear.
The Trump administration is struggling with this right now and trying
to figure out what to do in that situation. Well, their decision was to
say: Zero tolerance. We are going to prosecute those individuals who
come. Rather than just give them a ticket to, in the future, come to a
court date, let's do the date right now.
The problem with that is, as soon as you press charges on that
individual, you get one of those three criteria that kicks in
immediately. As soon as charges are filed on the adult--not on the
child but on the adult--the adult is taken to have charges filed on
them and start going through the legal process. There is a requirement
to separate the children then, and the children go to what is called
the least restrictive environment. Usually that is with a family member
somewhere in the country, but it is usually 2 months or so before we
can get that child to someone else in order to help them go with a
family member.
That is a mess. It is something that occurred based on the decision
of the adult who brought the child and the decision of the adult to
illegally cross the border, but it is still a mess. We as compassionate
Americans absolutely detest watching families being pulled apart.
As I have said, the Department of Homeland Security--our default
every time should be to keep families together unless there is
absolutely no way to do it. Families should stay together. These are
individuals who are fleeing from whatever country or are coming for
economic benefit. They should face the consequences of illegally
crossing the border rather than doing it the right way--legally--as
hundreds of thousands of people do every single day, doing it the right
way. But we should try to keep families together if at all possible.
The question becomes, Now what? Since the policy change of May 5,
there are about 2,200 families who have crossed the border since May 5
who have been picked up. About 2,200 adults have been taken one way,
and their children taken the other way. It is very difficult for our
Nation to watch. As a father, I absolutely believe in every fiber of my
being that children should be safe and kept with their own families in
a loving and healthy environment. Yet now we are in a tough spot so let
me try to review and make some recommendations of what we can do about
this.
In 1997, there was an agreement called the Flores settlement. The
Flores settlement was an agreement between the Department of Justice
and a group of immigrant minors. It stated the Federal Government must
release to their parents or guardians, without unnecessary delay,
migrant children who are being held in Federal custody. In this case,
the parent or guardian is under criminal prosecution, so the Federal
Government can't do that. The next thing they have to do is to find the
least restrictive environment in which to release this child, which is
based on this 1997 agreement.
This is not a new issue. Every administration since 1997 has tried to
figure out what to do with it. The previous administration, as I
mentioned, just released people--adults and children--into the interior
of the country because it didn't know what to do with this agreement.
There is a way to resolve this and help keep families together no
matter what their statuses are as they are working through this
process.
In fact, I believe in it enough that in one of the proposals I
brought to this body to vote on in February, when we were dealing with
immigration as a whole, there was an agreement to resolve Flores. We
have voted on this already. I had folks as recently as today say to
bring a piece of legislation to fix this. I smiled at them and said I
did 4 months ago and that we voted on it as a body. This is not a new
issue. It has not just popped up since May 5, as the Trump
administration has focused on prosecution. This has been an issue for a
couple of decades.
Solving the Flores loophole is exceptionally important to us in our
immigration conversation because there are no simple answers to it
until we resolve this issue. When the Court requires us to separate
children from families while they are under prosecution and to find the
least restrictive environment to ship children, it makes for this
convoluted, bureaucratic, painful separation of families. I don't think
that was the Court's intention, but it has clearly been the result of
that since 1997, and now it is happening more. It has happened before
in the past, and it will continue to happen until we solve this. In
February, we brought up the need to continue to debate and get this
done. We have tried this before. Let's keep focusing on solving this.
In the meantime, it is my recommendation to this administration that
before there is prosecution, it offer to families the opportunity to do
volunteer returns. Currently, if you are from Mexico or if you are from
Canada and you illegally cross the border, you have the opportunity to
have what is called a voluntary return, meaning that you don't go
through all of the prosecution. You know you are in the country
illegally, but you are not quite at the point of having charges filed
against you. You have that opportunity, and you take that opportunity.
I think, before it files charges, the administration should offer to
every
[[Page S3978]]
family who comes across the border the opportunity to keep its family
together instead of going through this painful separation from any kind
of prosecution that would happen regardless of that prosecution
occurring. Give families the opportunity to stay together, make a
decision on what they are going to do together, and get this done. That
is something the administration can do.
Short of that, I absolutely believe Kirstjen Nielsen, who is our
Secretary of Homeland Security, is exactly correct when she says this
is Congress's fault. Congress has had the opportunity for a couple of
decades now to fix this, and Congress, for a couple of decades, has
said that it is not a problem, it is not a problem, it is not a
problem.
I and several other Senators and quite a few House Members have
continued to weigh this issue and say it is a problem no matter how it
is used. Whether it has been used with heavy prosecution or light
prosecution in previous administrations, it has always been a problem.
Congress has had the ability to fix it, but Congress has been unwilling
to do it. It is time for Congress to step up and do the job it is
supposed to do--take the votes it is supposed to take.
I am very aware these issues are difficult and technical and
emotional, but these are real lives that are mixed into this--
individuals who were created in the image of God. They have value and
worth. Families are affected by this. Congress needs to step up, take
the votes, and actually do the task that needs to be done. The
administration is right in that this is Congress's problem and that it
is Congress's responsibility to fix it. We shouldn't leave the
administration hanging out there.
I also say to the administration: You have other options and other
tools, in the meantime, to keep families together. Use them. For the
sake of all of those kids and all of those families, use them. In the
meantime, in the middle of this intolerable position, let's step up,
and let's take the votes.
We all know we need border security. In this body, border security
was an overwhelming bipartisan-supported measure in 2006, when the
Secure Fence Act was passed. We believe there needs to be border
security. Let's vote for it. Let's get it done. Let's not just talk
about doing it someday. Let's actually do it. Let's add more
immigration judges. Our backlog of a year and a half before one can get
to an immigration court is absurd. Catch and release is absurd. No one
would do that or should do that. We have ways to fix that.
I have stated over and over in this body that I think it is absurd we
have individuals who are in this country, due to no fault of their own,
and have grown up in this country whom we have just ignored and
pretended have not been there. Those people who are in DACA or who are
DACA-eligible deserve an answer. This Congress should vote on it rather
than just keep them in limbo.
Publically, I believe they should have a shot at naturalization. The
reasonable thing is to give us 10 years to get the border security
done. At the same time, those individuals in DACA will have a 10-year
path headed toward their naturalization. That should not be
unreasonable. In the meantime, give those individuals the opportunity
to travel and work and go to school and be full participants in our
society.
I think the diversity lottery is absurd. Other than salvation in
Christ, I think one of the greatest gifts you can possibly have on this
Earth is American citizenship. We just put it out there and say: You
don't have to have any qualifications. If you want to come, come. I
think we should actually extend it to people who are going to engage in
the economy and be productive parts of our society, who have gifts and
abilities that will help us as a culture. Let's make that the
extension. Let's keep the diversity lottery. I am grateful to have
people here who are from all over the world. Let's just make sure they
are bringing the skills we need. I don't think it is that unreasonable.
There are things we can do that we agree on and that we should move
on rather than just say: Someday, let's do. Someday is today. Someday
is right now. It is time for Congress to step up and take the lead and
stop blaming everybody else. It is time for us to do our job and vote
on this for a result.
I yield the floor.
____________________