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| GOP leader calls for migrant children 'warehouses' in Central America | GOP leader calls for migrant children 'warehouses' in Central America |
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| A senior Republican has proposed that the US government should build “warehouses” in Central America where thousands of unaccompanied children who have attempted to seek asylum in the US could be deported and processed on their return to their countries of origin. | A senior Republican has proposed that the US government should build “warehouses” in Central America where thousands of unaccompanied children who have attempted to seek asylum in the US could be deported and processed on their return to their countries of origin. |
| Michael McCaul, a Republican member of Congress from Texas who chairs the House committee on homeland security, has proposed that rather than build extra facilities on domestic soil to handle the surge in numbers of child immigrants attempting to cross the US border, facilities should be located in the territories from which the minors came. “I’m not in favour of building large warehouses in the US to warehouse these kids, I think we have to have deterrence and if we are to build facilities we should think about doing that in the countries of origin in Central America,” he said. | Michael McCaul, a Republican member of Congress from Texas who chairs the House committee on homeland security, has proposed that rather than build extra facilities on domestic soil to handle the surge in numbers of child immigrants attempting to cross the US border, facilities should be located in the territories from which the minors came. “I’m not in favour of building large warehouses in the US to warehouse these kids, I think we have to have deterrence and if we are to build facilities we should think about doing that in the countries of origin in Central America,” he said. |
| Speaking on Fox News Sunday, McCaul said that Republicans would not write a blank cheque for dealing with the border situation, which he said had reached crisis proportions. President Obama last week asked Congress for $3.7bn in emergency funds to expand the system of immigration courts and speed up the process for dealing with child immigrants crossing the southern border, who have exceeded 50,000 since last October. | Speaking on Fox News Sunday, McCaul said that Republicans would not write a blank cheque for dealing with the border situation, which he said had reached crisis proportions. President Obama last week asked Congress for $3.7bn in emergency funds to expand the system of immigration courts and speed up the process for dealing with child immigrants crossing the southern border, who have exceeded 50,000 since last October. |
| Republican leaders gave a round of interviews on the Sunday political shows, clearly sensing that the White House is on the defensive over the child immigrant issue. The opposition party has sought to turn the political flurry into Obama’s Katrina, by suggesting that the president’s decision not to tour the border in Texas last week was a sign that he was as out of touch as his predecessor George Bush had been over the New Orleans disaster in 2005. | Republican leaders gave a round of interviews on the Sunday political shows, clearly sensing that the White House is on the defensive over the child immigrant issue. The opposition party has sought to turn the political flurry into Obama’s Katrina, by suggesting that the president’s decision not to tour the border in Texas last week was a sign that he was as out of touch as his predecessor George Bush had been over the New Orleans disaster in 2005. |
| The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, accused Obama on CBS’s Face the Nation of not caring about what was happening on America’s southern flank, which he called a “monumental humanitarian” problem. He said he had warned the president in May 2012 about the pending crisis with unaccompanied minors but nothing had been done about it. | The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, accused Obama on CBS’s Face the Nation of not caring about what was happening on America’s southern flank, which he called a “monumental humanitarian” problem. He said he had warned the president in May 2012 about the pending crisis with unaccompanied minors but nothing had been done about it. |
| “It could have been stopped years ago had the administration listened and focused on what was happening at the border. Time after time you see a response from this administration that is, you know, we are really not that interested in the southern border of the United States,” he said. | “It could have been stopped years ago had the administration listened and focused on what was happening at the border. Time after time you see a response from this administration that is, you know, we are really not that interested in the southern border of the United States,” he said. |
| For their part, Democrats are hoping to rebuff intensifying conservative criticism over the border issue by counter-attacking that Republican leaders are callous and uncaring towards vulnerable immigrant children. The Democratic party currently enjoys widespread support among Latino voters partly as a result of Republicans’ resistance to comprehensive immigration reforms that would provide a pathway towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants. | For their part, Democrats are hoping to rebuff intensifying conservative criticism over the border issue by counter-attacking that Republican leaders are callous and uncaring towards vulnerable immigrant children. The Democratic party currently enjoys widespread support among Latino voters partly as a result of Republicans’ resistance to comprehensive immigration reforms that would provide a pathway towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants. |
| Joaquín Castro, the Democratic Congressman from the 20th district of Texas, said that unaccompanied minors should not be deported back to possible violence and abuse in central America without their claims for asylum being heard. “These folks need to be given the chance to go to court and argue their case. It raises the question: who do we consider to be a refugee in America in the 21st century, and that's a very tough question for us and it tugs at our conscience.” | |
| Castro did concede, however, that it was important for Obama to visit the border area at some point in the near future. | Castro did concede, however, that it was important for Obama to visit the border area at some point in the near future. |
| • This article was amended on Monday 14 July 2014 as it incorrectly stated that Joaquín Castro is the newly appointed housing and urban development secretary in the Obama administration |