San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)

A bipartisan solution for nation’s out-of-control border

- By John Cornyn, Henry Cuellar and Tony Gonzales John Cornyn, a Republican, is the senior senator from Texas. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, represents the 28th District. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican, represents the 23rd District.

18,890. That’s how many unaccompan­ied children crossed our southern border last month.

For context, it’s enough people to fill every seat in the AT&T Center. We know the journey to our border isn’t safe or easy for children. Many arrive malnourish­ed and in critical health, having endured weeks or even months on the road. Physical and sexual abuse are common. Some young girls arrive pregnant.

These children account for only a fraction of the more than 172,000 migrants Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, encountere­d along the border in March — the highest number on record. The system is so overwhelme­d that children who by law cannot remain in CBP custody for more than 72 hours have been held more than 10 days. The federal government has set up influx care facilities across the state, including Freeman Expo Hall, to help care for children. At one point, the processing facility in Donna was at 1,600 percent capacity.

All of this is happening with the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made routine tasks such as transporti­ng and caring for migrants incredibly dangerous. Law enforcemen­t, local officials and nonprofits lack the facilities, personnel and resources to manage this crisis in a fair, efficient and humane way. That needs to change.

This past week, we introduced the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act to address the migrant influx at the border. This is the only immigratio­n bill supported by members in both parties and both chambers of Congress. We have also been proud to work with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., a fellow border state native.

First and foremost, our legislatio­n will provide new protection­s for unaccompan­ied children. It’s painful this must be put into law, but there should never be a circumstan­ce in which a child is released to the custody of a sex offender, child abuser or other dangerous criminal. The health and well-being of these children is a top priority — while in the care of the government and upon release to sponsors.

Second, the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act will help streamline the processing of migrants.Our legislatio­n will establish at least four regional processing centers in high-traffic areas along the border to handle the influx of migrants. These will help improve coordinati­on between various government agencies and make the process more efficient. They will also ensure we don’t have to skip important steps of the process — such as issuing a notice to appear in immigratio­n court — due to a facility running beyond its capacity.

Third, this legislatio­n will create a pilot program to expedite legal proceeding­s. Our immigratio­n court backlog is already 1.3 million cases deep, and the average time for a case to be adjudicate­d is about 2 ½ years. With the current surge in migration, those numbers will only grow. It’s in everyone’s best interest to resolve cases fairly and efficientl­y, and deliver migrants the legal certainty they need to move forward with their lives.

To support this goal, the bill requires the hiring of hundreds of immigratio­n judge teams, asylum officers, litigation teams and other staff. The cases of migrants who arrive during surges will be prioritize­d to ensure those with legitimate claims can be granted asylum without lengthy delays, while also disincenti­vizing wouldbe migrants with weak asylum claims from attempting the dangerous journey to the border.

This bill makes a number of other commonsens­e changes to alleviate staffing shortages, expand language translatio­n and legal orientatio­n services for migrants, and improve coordinati­on between federal, state and local officials.

We are already facing a humanitari­an crisis, and unless we take action, the situation will only get worse. The number of unaccompan­ied children who arrived on our border more than doubled from February to March. And we are on track to see the highest number of illegal border crossings in two decades.

There is no time for partisan fights and no excuse for inaction. This crisis has placed a dire strain on our resources, and Congress must take action before the entire system collapses.

We have been proud to work across the aisle on the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act. It’s time for our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us.

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