Congress exits; no fix on separations
Members take week off amid public outcry
WASHINGTON – Congress has left town for a weeklong Fourth of July recess without taking action to stop the continuing crisis of family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border.
House and Senate leaders had expressed hope that Congress could act quickly last week to pass a narrow bill that would allow migrant children to remain with their parents at detention centers beyond the current 20-day limit. At least five bills have been offered, but lawmakers have been unable to unite around any one of them.
Both chambers adjourned Thursday without a solution and will return July 9.
Members of both parties have condemned separating children from their parents as more than 2,000 babies, children and adolescents have been taken from their mothers and fathers as part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration initiative announced in April. The policy has mostly affected families from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, summed up the reaction of most lawmakers when he said, “All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers. This must stop. Now.” But stopping it has proved difficult. Amid growing public outcry, Trump reversed his policy last month, ordering parents and children to stay together in detention centers after the parents are charged with crossing the border illegally. But every day Congress fails to act, more families face separation.