manitarian-crisis-on-border-
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/
manitarian-crisis-on-border-
Invasion USA!
"Thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing the border are straining the US
agencies that handle illegal immigration. That could affect President
Obama's election year plans."
In recent weeks, a tide of young, unaccompanied minors crossing the Texas
border illegally has pushed the US immigration system to its breaking point.
Unable to cope with the volume of children crossing the border without their
parents, immigration authorities have had to find emergency solutions, such
as housing thousands in a San Antonio Air Force base, a California Navy
base, and a makeshift detention center in Nogales, Ariz.
The Associated Press reported that the Nogales warehouse was running out of
supplies.
The Obama administration has linked the trend to unrest in Central American
countries, but Republican critics say an executive action that the president
took in 2012 is to blame, calling the situation "an administration-made
disaster."
President Obama delayed rolling out new deportation reforms in late May
partly because did didn't want to further anger Republicans who accuse him
of unconstitutionally bypassing Congress to set immigration policy. Now, if
he proceeds, he will have to fend off fresh claims that the very policies he
has set have pushed the country into crisis.
At issue is Mr. Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which
in 2012 allowed some undocumented immigrants who came to America as minors
to defer deportation for two years. Last week, the administration announced
guidelines for how these immigrants could defer deportation for a further
two years.
DACA would not apply to anyone coming across the border today. Only
undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as minors before June 15,
2007, are eligible. But to Republican critics, DACA created the opportunity
for misinformation and confusion.
"Word has gotten out around the world about President Obama's lax
immigration enforcement policies and it has encouraged more individuals to
come to the United States illegally," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R) of
Virginia, a key broker in immigration reform efforts on Capitol Hill, in a
statement last week.
The numbers are stark.
During the decade preceding fiscal year 2012, the federal government agency
tasked with caring for unaccompanied minors who cross the border illegally
dealt with an average of 7,000 to 8,000 cases a year, according to a
Department of Health and Human Services fact sheet. In fiscal year 2011, the
number was 6,560.
The following year, however, the number jumped to 13,625. This fiscal year,
which ends Sept. 30, 2014, federal officials are estimating that the number
could be 80,000, according to an internal memo cited by The New York Times.
Obama called the situation a "humanitarian crisis" Monday. Poverty and
violence are driving the migration, administration officials say, and
activists working with migrants agree. But some also suggest that DACA could
be a factor.
By Epictetus
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