Feeling the heat
Republicans on Capitol Hill frantically searched on Tuesday for ways to end the administration’s policy of separating families after illegal border crossings, ahead of a visit from President Donald Trump to discuss broader immigration legislation.
Top conservatives, including key Trump allies, announced they were introducing bills to stop the practice amid a public outcry over the administration’s “zero tolerance” approach to illegal crossings.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas introduced legislation that the White House said it was reviewing, and Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, also introduced a measure.
Both bills were offered as alternatives in case broader GOP immigration legislation heading for a vote this week fails, as is likely. “This becomes a backup proposal,” Meadows told reporters at the White House.
Trump’s meeting late Tuesday with House Republicans comes as lawmakers in both parties are up in arms after days of news reports showing images of children being held at border facilities in cages and an audio recording of a young child pleading for his “Papa.”
The issue boiled over Tuesday at a House hearing on an unrelated subject when protesters with babies briefly shut down proceedings.
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, Emily Fisher, right, of Washington, holds her daughter, Penelope Morse, 10 months, as she and other mother’s arrive to protest the separation of immigrant families at the start of at joint House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing examining the Inspector Generals’ report of the FBI’s Clinton email probe, on Capitol Hill Tuesday in Washington.
the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, teared up as he pleaded with Republicans on the panel to end what he called “internment camps.”
“We need you, those children need you -and I am talking directly to my Republican colleagueswe need you to stand up to President Donald Trump,” he said. Under the current policy, all unlawful crossings are referred for prosecution - a process that moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and
sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the Obama administration, such families were usually referred for civil deportation proceedings, not requiring separation.
Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May.
The House is already embroiled in an election-year struggle over immigration legislation that threatens to hurt Republicans in November.
Democrats have seized on the
family separation issue. And now, Republicans are increasingly joining them in their call to stop separating families.
“While cases are pending, families should stay together,” tweeted Cruz, who is in an unexpectedly tough re-election battle. He introduced his own bill to speed up court proceedings to no more than 14 days. “Children belong with their families.”
Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton called for an immediate end to the “ugly and inhumane practice” of separation.