Despite what’s being acknowledged as a humanitarian crisis, Democrats in Congress are vowing to derail any potential fix, even though it was the Democrat-in-chief in the White House who opened the door to that very thing.
Democrats in the House and Senate said Tuesday they would oppose any changes to a 2008 human trafficking law Republicans have blamed for the wave of child immigrants crossing the border.
The opposition sets up a standoff and raises serious doubts about whether Congress will be able to act before its summer recess in response to what both parties argue is a humanitarian crisis.
With the border in chaos and impacted individuals and states now in crisis mode, Obama opted out of his usual golf game and, as The Hill points out, took a page from the NFL playbook and “punted”, instead. With Democrats divided and already being blamed for the current illegal immigration crisis, their prospected for the 2014 mid-terms look worse every day.
The White House on Monday punted on the issue of how to deal with the 2008 law, arguing it would rely on Congress to determine the “legislative machinations.”
The 2008 law allows authorities to send immigrant children from Mexico or Canada back to their home countries within 48 hours of a screening, but requires that children from Central America and other countries be granted an asylum hearing that can take weeks to set up.
President Obama has signaled a willingness to consider changes to the law, but did not propose new language in his request for $3.7 billion in emergency funding to deal with a crisis that has overwhelmed authorities at the border.
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