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U.S. Rep. Cuellar weighs in on immigration bill addressing migrant influx

3 years 2 weeks 6 days ago Tuesday, April 06 2021 Apr 6, 2021 April 06, 2021 8:47 AM April 06, 2021 in News - Local

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) wants more money earmarked for both the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services to process and detain migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cuellar’s bill, which he’s cosponsoring with a Republican congressman from New York, would allow DHS and HHS to work together, using separate funds, so that other agencies don’t have to help pay for the costs of immigration.

With the increase in border crossings, Congressman Cuellar says U.S. Customs and Border Protection is being stretched too thin.

READ ALSO: Government looks to expand shelter capacity for migrant children as Border Patrol reports growing backlog of cases  

“The Border Patrol are taking men and women, from the border, to be in many ways, babysitters,” Cuellar said.

Cuellar says despite what advocates think about the right to migrate, there’s a cost to process migrants either way, adding that a better system to handle these influxes is needed to avoid scrambling for money at the last minute.

But advocates from the Texas Civil Rights Project says another issue with the bill is that it doesn’t address the root cause.

“Individuals from Central America are fleeing climate change,” said Roberto Lopez with the Texas Civil Rights Project. “They’re fleeing political instability, and all of these things have still been yet to have been addressed.

According to the Congressional Research Service, this fiscal year, there’s been 18% less monetary aide going into Latin America and the Caribbean, much of which goes to security efforts.

Cuellar’s team says the bill has been filed, but there is no word on when it will be taken up in Congress.

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