House Speaker John Boehner announced a member working group on the ongoing crisis of unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors crossing the southwest border Tuesday.
Headed by Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger and composed mainly of congressman from border states, Boehner said he is forming the group to keep Congress up to date on the “crisis” because “the president has failed to take the necessary steps to address this crisis.”
“The president has allowed a national security and humanitarian crisis to develop on the U.S. southern border. There are two imperatives here: protect those children and secure our border,” Boehner said announcing the new working group. “I sent a letter to the president last week outlining a series of steps I believe need to be taken immediately to achieve those goals. These steps include sending the National Guard to the border to protect these children, so the border patrol can do its job.”
Since October more than 52,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained crossing into the United States through the southwest border, the vast majority of which have been from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
The other members of the group include: Rep. John Carter (R-TX), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM), and Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ).
Carter and Diaz-Balart have led efforts to negotiate amnesty bills with Democratic lawmakers.
Last week Boehner called on Obama to dispatch the National Guard to the border to assist with the flood of illegal immigration through the southern border. The Obama administration confirmed Friday it had received the letter but said it had no immediate plans to deploy the National Guard.