White House To Spend Millions To
Curb Undocumented Children Crossing Border
(CNN) --
The Obama administration has unveiled a plan to spend millions of dollars to
stem the tide of undocumented children streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border,
announcing a coordinated government-wide response to the situation Friday.
The plan
includes almost $100 million in aid to the Central American governments of
Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help reintegrate the illegal migrants
whom the United States will send back, and to help keep them in their home
countries, according to a White House statement.
The
administration also announced it will set aside $161.5 million this year for
the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) programs because the
programs "are critical to enabling Central American countries to respond
to the region's most pressing security and governance challenges."
"Our
assistance will help stem migration flows as well as address the root cause of
the migration," the statement said.
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The Obama
administration has accused syndicates in Latin America of waging a deliberate campaign of
misinformation that has caused people in poor Central American countries and Mexico to risk their lives to head for
the United States , where they expect to stay.
White
House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the administration is addressing the
problem in several ways.
"We're
going to open up some additional detention facilities that can accommodate
adults that show up on the border with their children. And we're going to
deploy some additional resources to work through their immigration cases more
quickly, so they're not held in that detention facility for a long time, and
hopefully be quickly returned to their home country," Earnest said.
Earnest
said the administration is also working with Central American countries to
address the problem at its root.
"Some
of that is an information campaign and countering this intentional
misinformation campaign that's being propagated by criminal syndicates. But
also working through a host of USAID programs and the host governments, or the
governments in these countries to try to meet some of the citizens' security
needs that are so acute in these countries right now.
Most of
the children crossing the border would not qualify for "amnesty"
under the federal DACA program that defers deportation for children brought to
the United States previously by their parents or
guardians illegally.
Biden
spoke with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez during his flight to Guatemala . He asked Hernandez to work
closely with the other leaders to help develop a plan to address the root
causes of unlawful migration from Central America , according to a statement from the
office of the vice president.
The vice
president discussed the same topics in a meeting in Guatemala later with Guatemalan President
Otto Pérez Molina, President Salvador Sánchez Cerén of El Salvador , and representatives from the
Honduran and Mexican governments.
Obama administration unveils new
response
Biden's
visit to Central
America
was part of the Obama administration's response to what it calls an
"urgent humanitarian situation."
The
majority of the children apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol along the
southwest border this month have been concentrated in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas , according to a congressional
advisory Friday.
As of June
18, 3,103 unaccompanied children from 11 countries were in U.S. Customs and
Border Protection custody along that border, the majority being from Honduras , El Salvador , Mexico and Guatemala , the advisory said.
The
federal government does not have the processing capabilities to handle this
kind of influx of illegal human traffic. But the Obama administration has now
coordinated a governmentwide response to the crisis.
The new
plan announced Friday includes a big influx of spending to the USAID program,
including $40 million dollars to Guatemala to improve security, $25 million
to El Salvador to help with a crime and violence
prevention program and at-risk youth, and $18.5 million to the Central American
Regional Security Initiative in Honduras for crime and gang prevention
efforts.
The
Central American nations also have their wish lists.
Salvadoran
President Sanchez Ceren will request another round of money — $270 million —
from the Millennium Challenge Corp., a U.S. aid program.
The
Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security are also taking
additional steps to try and mitigate the still unfolding immigration crisis.
The
agencies are "surging government enforcement resources to increase (the)
capacity to detain individuals and adults who bring their children with them
and to handle immigration court hearings as quickly and efficiently as possible
while also while protecting those who are seeking asylum."
"This
is an extraordinary interagency effort to deal with an urgent humanitarian
situation," said Cecilia Muñoz, the White House director of domestic
policy, in a conference call on the new administration plan.
Opponents
of the Obama administration remain skeptical of the immigration policies
leading to the boarder crossings of minors.
On Friday,
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin toured a temporary shelter at Fort Sill housing about 600 unaccompanied
minors -- ages 12 to 17 -- who crossed the United States ' southern border illegally.
Fallin
criticized President Barack Obama for the "lax immigration policies that
have lead to an illegal immigration crisis."
"This
facility is designed for our soldiers to train and prepare to protect our
nation," said Fallin. "Instead, the federal government is using it as
a cross between a boarding school and detention center for illegal immigrants.
President Obama should not be using our military facilities as a tool to cover
up his failed immigration policies."
The Obama
administration aims to close the Fort Sill housing facility for undocumented
children in the next 120 days.
Ben Ferro
benferro@insideins.com
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