GOP Bill to Prevent Immigrant Children from Being Separated from Their Parents

The GOP has attempted to respond to controversies regarding their policy of separating the children of immigrants from their parents at the U.S. border by announcing a bill that would prohibit said separations.

While the new legislation has not been put to paper yet, Paul Ryan reportedly intends to include it in the next bill to be proposed in the House of Representatives.

The law would allegedly protect almost two million DACA Dreamers and would eliminate the diversity lottery, but would also raise funding for border protection by $25 million.

The writing of the legislation is set to be finalized by next week. Although many members of the House agreed to hold the voting next week, many of them decided to keep their decisions private until they vote.

Ryan said that the White House is ready and willing to move forward with this bill. He stated to reporters at a press conference: “I said before, the last thing I want to do is bring a bill out of here that I know the president won’t support. Well, we have been working hand in glove with the administration on this to make sure we are bringing a bill that represents the president’s four pillars so that we can come together.” He also reported that the president was excited to follow through with these regulations.

When it comes to the specifics of the bill, several representatives have stated that the bill will fall in line with President Trump’s “four pillars on immigration,” which are border security, a more effective handling of DACA, changing the diversity visa lottery, and ending so-called “chain migration.”

More specifically, Representative Jeff Denham stated: “Our goal has been to have a permanent fix for Dreamers given the certainty that they need, address the 1.8 million Dreamers that are out there today and then also give them a pathway forward so they’re not only here, protecting them, but allowing them to work and go to school and signing up for military as well.”

Recently, a petition which could have moved the House to vote on several other topics regarding immigration fell short two signatures of the 218 required for it to pass.

There have been at least 429 cases of children of immigrants being separated from their parents presented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in lawsuits. Several groups have also accused the administration of separating children from families that were requesting asylum in legal ports of entry to the U.S. Many of those who requested asylum legally were probably escaping violence from Central-American countries.

However, President Trump continues to walk back the GOP’s supposed intentions regarding the bill by comparing MS-13 gang members to “animals” on more than one occasion. He first used the term at a press meeting in the White House and then repeated it in an explosive Nashville rally. At the event, he encouraged his supporters to chant the term and proceeded to state that Democratic politicians support, defend and prioritize MS-13 over the American people. He also criticized the Mexican government for being unable to stop the influx of illegal migrants to the U.S.

Hopefully, Trump will put aside this rhetoric and support Congress’ latest initiative.

Featured Image via: Wikimedia Commons