{"id":21343,"date":"2019-04-08T16:12:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T20:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=21343"},"modified":"2019-04-08T16:12:31","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T20:12:31","slug":"amid-an-unrelenting-surge-democrats-target-detention-centers-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/08\/amid-an-unrelenting-surge-democrats-target-detention-centers-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid An Unrelenting Surge, Democrats Target Detention Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the nation\u2019s illegal immigration crisis reaching potentially catastrophic proportions, then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary\u00a0 Kirstjen Nielsen issued a four-page memo<\/a> in March seeking urgent congressional action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need additional temporary facilities as soon as\npossible in order to process arriving aliens, especially those entering\nillegally between ports of entry,\u201d wrote Nielsen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are witnessing the real-time dissolution of the\nimmigration system,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the administration announced plans to expand\nbed-space at the one remaining temporary shelter in Homestead, Florida,\nlawmakers predictably vociferously opposed the move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExploding the child detention population at a facility that is already inadequately staffed and regulated is cruel, irresponsible and invites neglect,\u201d said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) in an April 2 statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasserman Schultz was right in stating that increasing the number of beds from 1,350 to 2,350 would constitute a 140 percent increase in child bed capacity in just four months. What she failed to mention is there has been a 300 percent increase in apprehensions of people crossing as part of families compared with 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or that in a five-month period ending on Feb. 28, Border\nPatrol officers detained more than 268,000 illegal immigrants \u2013 and more than\n76,000 were apprehended in February alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But rather than find a way to assist DHS, as well as\nImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Health and Human\nServices (HHS), manage the influx, Wasserman-Schultz is content to complicate\ntheir job by seeking publicity and her political aims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawmaker and two of her fellow Florida Democratic\ncolleagues demanded access to the Homestead facility  under the auspices of oversight and when\ndenied entry, they claimed HHS was violating the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a joint statement<\/a>, the congresswomen claimed being denied entry \u201cwould not only be a breach of transparency and confidence in the care provided there, it would violate the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their letter was followed by one from Rep. Rosa\nDeLauro (D-Conn.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, to U.S.\nDepartment of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar \u201cdemanding\u201d\nhe permit them to enter the Homestead facility as \u201ctheir right as Members of\nCongress under the law we passed last year, signed by the President.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law to which they are referring is a provision included in last year\u2019s HHS appropriations bill<\/a> which prohibits funds \u201cfrom being used to prevent a Member of Congress from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any U.S. facility used for maintaining custody of or otherwise housing unaccompanied alien children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But funds were not being used in such a manner. HHS\nconfirmed the members were denied access, but also provided context that the\nDemocrats omitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have had significant interest for facility visits. To ensure a facility visit does not interfere with the safety and well-being of our [children], we require a minimum two-week notification at the convenience and availability of the facility. This has been policy since 2015,\u201d read a statement from department to the Miami Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt meets our current statutory obligation to provide members of Congress with facility access. Indeed, most members of Congress who have sought tours this year have worked with us collaboratively and without objection to schedule tours under the policy,\u201d added<\/a> an HHS official. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With their visit denied, the congresswoman opted for\nsecond-best by holding a press conference outside the Homestead facility\ncontinuing to insist that no notification is required and that HHS is breaking\nthe law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But oversight is not really their aim. Closing down any and all detention centers is. In the tweeted words<\/a> of Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the center must \u201ccomply with the spirit of the Flores settlement\u201d otherwise \u201cthis facility must be shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Wasserman Schultz said upon her return to\nWashington, they would take legal action against the shelter for denial of\naccess. Democrats claim to be engaged congressional oversight, but all they are\ndoing is ensuring that the loopholes in immigration law creating the need for\ndetention centers remain in place. And that will further burden an overwhelmed system\nand all who work in it, which is to the benefit of no one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the nation\u2019s illegal immigration crisis reaching potentially catastrophic proportions, then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary\u00a0 Kirstjen Nielsen issued a four-page memo in March seeking urgent congressional action. \u201cWe need additional temporary facilities as soon as possible in order to process arriving aliens, especially those entering illegally between ports of entry,\u201d wrote Nielsen. \u201cWe are witnessing<\/p>\n

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