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Cornyn: House to Pass 'Skinnied Down' Bill to Aid Border Crisis

Melanie Batley

July 28, 2014

House Republicans intend to pass "skinnied down" emergency funding legislation this week before the August recess to address the border crisis, but it is expected to fall far short of the $3.7 billion requested by President Barack Obama, said Sen. John Cornyn.

The Texas Republican, along with Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, intend to include changes to a 2008 law that prohibits the deportation of minors without a court hearing, something the GOP has argued would speed up deportation and stem the tide of new arrivals.

"Fortunately, it sounds like the House of Representatives is going to move a piece of legislation this week, which would actually offer a solution. And it will include something along the lines Henry and I have proposed," Cornyn said on ABC's "This Week," according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Specifically, the bill would ensure that all new arrivals from Central America are treated the same way as minors who cross the border illegally from Mexico and Canada: instant deportation.

"My view is a solution beats no solution every day. And nobody has offered an alternative, so I hope we will act," Cornyn added.

The Cornyn/Cuellar legislation would be boon to GOP lawmakers who last week were concerned that inaction before the recess would result in public backlash and brand the party with an image that it is obstructing political compromise.

The measures, however, will likely get push-back from Democrats and immigrant advocate groups who insist that the law, initially intended to protect children from human trafficking, must remain in place if the United States is address what they see is a humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, after a meeting Friday with the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, Obama, who initially backed a plan for a change to the 2008 law, gave the leaders assurances that the rights of children who migrate to the United States would be protected, the Monitor reported.

And Obama is believed to be considering two major actions: granting temporary relief from deportation and giving work authorization to millions of illegal immigrants, Time magazine reported.

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