Bill Suspends Aid to Central America, Mexico Until Flood of Illegal Immigration Stops

A Texas Republican says he has a solution to mitigate the flood of unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors across the southern border.

Rep. Randy Weber introduced a bill Monday to hold Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador “accountable” for their citizens’ illegal migration by suspending foreign aid to those countries.

“The recent influx of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) has become a humanitarian crisis and has proven that certain laws are working against the United States of America,” Weber said Monday. “Texas, a border state, has repeatedly asked for help from the White House to mobilize our National Guard, and there has been no answer from the President or his administration.”

Since October more than 52,000 unaccompanied immigrant minors have been apprehended crossing illegally into the United States through the southwest border. The vast majority of the minors are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

“Frankly, the border states have been left hanging to fend for themselves, increasing the health and security risks to our citizens,” Weber added, explaining that state resources are being used to deal with the influx, but “it is still not enough to solve this crisis.”

Weber’s bill, the “Illegal Entry Accountability Act of 2014,” would halt U.S. foreign aid to those countries until Congress determines they have taken sufficient action to stop the illegal flood of unaccompanied minors into America.

“If the President and his administration won’t act, then I will,” he said.

Weber is not the first lawmaker to say the U.S. should end aid to these Central American countries.

Last week, at a Homeland Security Committee hearing on the flood of illegal immigration, Michigan Republican Rep. Candice Miller called for an end to foreign aid to Central America until they deal with the crisis.