Ted Cruz Says New Legislation Will Keep Migrant Families Together

Sen. Ted Cruz plans to roll out legislation aimed at keeping the children of undocumented immigrants detained at the border united with their parents, the senator announced Monday afternoon.

The proposed legislation, titled the "Protect Kids and Parents Act," is designed to keep parents and children united, rather than separating families and detaining children in foster homes or shelters like the one in McAllen, Texas.

Cruz's proposal, he said in a press release, would:

• Double the number of federal immigration judges, from roughly 375 to 750.
• Authorize new temporary shelters, with accommodations to keep families together.
• Mandate that illegal immigrant families must be kept together, absent aggravated criminal conduct or threat of harm to the children.
• Provide for expedited processing and review of asylum cases, so that—within 14 days—those who meet the legal standards will be granted asylum, and those who do not will be immediately returned to their home countries.

“All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers. This must stop. Now," Cruz said. "We can end this crisis by passing the legislation I am introducing this week. We can fix this. If my Democratic colleagues will join me, not play politics but work to solve the problem, we can start to end family separation this week. And, we can honor the rule of law.”

While the legislation aims to reform the way the cases of asylum seekers are handled, its main focus is on keeping families united.

“While these cases are pending, families should stay together. Children belong with their mothers and fathers. Once their cases have been adjudicated – under my legislation, in no longer than 14 days – those who meet the legal standard should be granted asylum and those who don’t should be immediately returned to their home country," Cruz said.

Read Patch's related coverage:

• Contractor Leases Houston Warehouse To Detain Migrant Kids
• Listen To Voices Of The Children Separated From Parents At Border
• 'Gut-Wrenching' Family Separations On Border: Sen. Van Hollen
• Baker Reverses Course, Won't Send Help To 'Inhumane' Border
• Texas Could Soon House 'Tent Cities' For Unaccompanied Migrant Kids: Report

Senate hopeful Beto O'Rourke, who will face off against Cruz for his Senate seat in November, marched on a migrant detainment center in Tornillo, Texas, over the weekend. O'Rourke addressed the crowd with a bullhorn in hand.

"This is not America. This is not us. This is not what we do," he said. "But ladies and gentlemen, at this moment, this is America. This is us. this is what we are doing. There is an open question about who we are as Americans... We are here also to bear the burden of what we now know to be happening. And I want that burden to be so uncomfortable for so many of us that it forces us to act. — it places the public pressure on those in positions in public trust and power to do the right thing for their country. "

Cruz's announcement came a week after O'Rourke toured the migrant processing center in McAllen, where parents had already been separated from their children.

"They were in essentially very large cages, pods, cyclone fences 10-feet high with netting on the top," he said on Facebook Live. "Polished concrete floors, it's just a gigantic warehouse where hundreds of kids and adults are kept divided by age, families no longer together..."

Cruz, too, visited a detention facility.

“Repeatedly, I have visited detention facilities tragically housing young children," Cruz said. "For far too long, children have been the greatest victims of our broken immigration system, with tens of thousands of children who were detained under the Obama Administration and continuing through today, and with far too many of those children facing horrific physical or sexual assault from criminal human traffickers."

Eric Hargan, deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Sunday in a press release that the shelters are necessary due to flaws in the immigration system.

"Unfortunately, the need for these facilities has grown over the last decade, in large part because of the flaws in our immigration system that draw many immigrants to try to cross our borders illegally..." Hargan said. "As was done in the previous administration in the summer of 2014 at Lackland Air Force Base and again in January and February of 2016 at Holloman Air Force Base, HHS has established a semi-permanent shelter in Tornillo, Texas. These semi-permanent structures have ventilation and cooling to ensure appropriate temperature, and teenagers at Tornillo range in age from 13-17. No unaccompanied alien children under the age of 13 are placed at semi-permanent facilities such as Tornillo."

He went on to invite other elected officials to tour the facilities in hopes that lawmakers would work to close "dangerous loopholes" in immigration laws.

"It is unfortunate that there are still some who fail to understand the role of HHS in caring for these children and teenagers. We need fewer media stunts and more real solutions. We welcome additional elected officials to visit these facilities, and it is my sincere hope that after their visit, Members of Congress heed the call of the Trump Administration to close dangerous loopholes in U.S. immigration laws that are the root cause of this issue. Until these laws are fixed, the American taxpayer is paying the bill for costly programs that can only temporarily try to address the consequences of our broken immigration system."

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