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There are children in cages along the U.S.-Mexico border right now. And more are showing up every day.
Three-quarters of these kids - some as young as four - are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and the "murder capital" of the world, Honduras. Many are fleeing rampant drug, gang, and sexual violence in these countries, risking a long and extremely dangerous journey for a chance at a future. Some don't make it. Others fall into the hands of traffickers, where they can be robbed, raped, kidnapped, abused, or abandoned.
Those who do survive the trip are arriving in greater numbers than ever before - as many as 90,000 are expected by the end of this year - and there's no question that this crisis is straining resources in the United States, as federal agencies scramble to keep up with the influx in a system equipped for far fewer children.
Emergency funds are needed as quickly as possible to ensure that these vulnerable children are appropriately housed, clothed, fed, and provided with basic necessities. The immigration court system is also desperately in need of resources, in order to provide meaningful court hearings for these children.
Earlier this week, the administration unveiled a wide-ranging emergency supplemental appropriations request, which would provide $3.7 billion across multiple federal agencies to address the crisis. Here's a quick look at what's in it:
Additionally, President Obama's letter accompanying the request signals that he may separately ask Congress to change the law so that children can be deported more quickly and with fewer procedural protections, as he signaled in a letter to Congress last week. Some Republicans are already calling for such a change as a condition of passing emergency funding. Under this scenario, rather than being transferred to HHS for screening by professionals to determine if they have been victims of trafficking or have claims to asylum, children could be subject to immediate deportation at the discretion of Border Patrol agents with no training in child welfare.
That would be a very bad thing, not just for the kids who would be sent back to the dangerous conditions they risked their lives to escape, but for the nation and what it says about how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
As lawmakers consider a path forward, they must ensure that supplemental funding first and foremost addresses immediate humanitarian needs. They must then also reject any proposal that would unnecessarily expand the immigration enforcement regime or weaken existing legal protections for children.
It's what these kids deserve, and it would reflect well on us as a nation.
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There are children in cages along the U.S.-Mexico border right now. And more are showing up every day.
Three-quarters of these kids - some as young as four - are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and the "murder capital" of the world, Honduras. Many are fleeing rampant drug, gang, and sexual violence in these countries, risking a long and extremely dangerous journey for a chance at a future. Some don't make it. Others fall into the hands of traffickers, where they can be robbed, raped, kidnapped, abused, or abandoned.
Those who do survive the trip are arriving in greater numbers than ever before - as many as 90,000 are expected by the end of this year - and there's no question that this crisis is straining resources in the United States, as federal agencies scramble to keep up with the influx in a system equipped for far fewer children.
Emergency funds are needed as quickly as possible to ensure that these vulnerable children are appropriately housed, clothed, fed, and provided with basic necessities. The immigration court system is also desperately in need of resources, in order to provide meaningful court hearings for these children.
Earlier this week, the administration unveiled a wide-ranging emergency supplemental appropriations request, which would provide $3.7 billion across multiple federal agencies to address the crisis. Here's a quick look at what's in it:
Additionally, President Obama's letter accompanying the request signals that he may separately ask Congress to change the law so that children can be deported more quickly and with fewer procedural protections, as he signaled in a letter to Congress last week. Some Republicans are already calling for such a change as a condition of passing emergency funding. Under this scenario, rather than being transferred to HHS for screening by professionals to determine if they have been victims of trafficking or have claims to asylum, children could be subject to immediate deportation at the discretion of Border Patrol agents with no training in child welfare.
That would be a very bad thing, not just for the kids who would be sent back to the dangerous conditions they risked their lives to escape, but for the nation and what it says about how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
As lawmakers consider a path forward, they must ensure that supplemental funding first and foremost addresses immediate humanitarian needs. They must then also reject any proposal that would unnecessarily expand the immigration enforcement regime or weaken existing legal protections for children.
It's what these kids deserve, and it would reflect well on us as a nation.
There are children in cages along the U.S.-Mexico border right now. And more are showing up every day.
Three-quarters of these kids - some as young as four - are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and the "murder capital" of the world, Honduras. Many are fleeing rampant drug, gang, and sexual violence in these countries, risking a long and extremely dangerous journey for a chance at a future. Some don't make it. Others fall into the hands of traffickers, where they can be robbed, raped, kidnapped, abused, or abandoned.
Those who do survive the trip are arriving in greater numbers than ever before - as many as 90,000 are expected by the end of this year - and there's no question that this crisis is straining resources in the United States, as federal agencies scramble to keep up with the influx in a system equipped for far fewer children.
Emergency funds are needed as quickly as possible to ensure that these vulnerable children are appropriately housed, clothed, fed, and provided with basic necessities. The immigration court system is also desperately in need of resources, in order to provide meaningful court hearings for these children.
Earlier this week, the administration unveiled a wide-ranging emergency supplemental appropriations request, which would provide $3.7 billion across multiple federal agencies to address the crisis. Here's a quick look at what's in it:
Additionally, President Obama's letter accompanying the request signals that he may separately ask Congress to change the law so that children can be deported more quickly and with fewer procedural protections, as he signaled in a letter to Congress last week. Some Republicans are already calling for such a change as a condition of passing emergency funding. Under this scenario, rather than being transferred to HHS for screening by professionals to determine if they have been victims of trafficking or have claims to asylum, children could be subject to immediate deportation at the discretion of Border Patrol agents with no training in child welfare.
That would be a very bad thing, not just for the kids who would be sent back to the dangerous conditions they risked their lives to escape, but for the nation and what it says about how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
As lawmakers consider a path forward, they must ensure that supplemental funding first and foremost addresses immediate humanitarian needs. They must then also reject any proposal that would unnecessarily expand the immigration enforcement regime or weaken existing legal protections for children.
It's what these kids deserve, and it would reflect well on us as a nation.