(CNN) – President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Monday for emergency funds, possibly more than $2 billion, as the United States grapples with a surge of undocumented children and adults crossing the border from Mexico.
A White House official told CNN the money will go to securing appropriate space for the detention of children but also stemming the tide of immigrants. The government hopes to increase its ability to investigate and dismantle smuggling organizations as well as quickly return children and adults to their home countries if they do not qualify for asylum.
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Little-known law allows abused immigrant children to stay in the U.S.
The federal government has struggled to process and accommodate the influx of illegal human traffic but specifically the spike in children. They don’t have enough beds, food or sanitary facilities.
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U.S. authorities estimate that between 60,000 to 80,000 children without parents will cross the border this year in what the White House is calling an “immediate humanitarian crisis.”
Earlier in June, the White House announced a plan to spend millions in a government-wide response by sending aide to governments in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help with crime and violence prevention.
In mid-June, Vice President Joe Biden also spoke with leaders in the three countries as well as Mexico about working together to promote security.
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Biden’s objective was to emphasize that adults arriving with their children in the United States don’t meet the requirements for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which defers deportation for children brought to the United States before June 15, 2012.
Obama also spoke with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto about the issue and has warned families who see the dangerous trip as the best option for their children.
“Do not send your children to the borders. If they do make it, they’ll get sent back. More importantly, they may not make it,” Obama said to ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.
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The White House will also ask Congress to ensure that the administration has the authority it deems necessary to effectively use these funds. That includes expanded authority for Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in processing the return and removal of unaccompanied minor children and increased penalties for individuals who smuggle minors across the border.
CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
Follow the existing laws and you would not have this problem..........Use the money to block the border......Allow ICE to do their job..........this Administration is wrong.........Hurrah for Republicans "calling them out" on their irrational thinking.
Call your congressmen and demand that the National Guard be sent to the border to protect us from invasion, crime, and disease. AND no 2 billion dollars for Obama to waste.
All the Governments mentioned that are to receive aid to the tune of over 2 billion dollars,,,do you actually think they will spend on the returning invaders??
$2 Billionn dollars should be enough to build a wall deep enough and tall enough to keep these ILLEGALS out of our country. We the citizens need to ensure that is the only way the money can and should be spent!
He wants $2 billion for a crisis that HE created. Absolutely amazing!
I not paying the baby setter .Take them back to there parents were they came from, and bill them there travel back. Before we do that, Build a concentration camp in the desert. Put all 90,000 in that to be deported back to there home. Next, I cant get the help, I need from are own government which I work for all the years. Being disabled my self. Why should I care. I don't have a bleeding heart any more. Sick of the invaders taking my benefits. let there government take care of them not us.
$2 billion is a small price to pay for millions of future votes to ensure a utopic welfare state, eh Barry?
Restrict all types of visas to all nations, especially south east Asia nations. This includes India, Bangladesh. All types of junk, dishonest is floating. Watch out.
$2 billion? Holy cow. We need to stop sending Central American counties money to fix a problem these countries have no intention on fixing. They love that the poorest of the poor run for the border. If their poverty problem becomes ours, then that's a bonus for them. Then we follow that up with billions in aid? This is like a giant scam.
–freeze immigration for ten or twenty years.
Dear Mr Izzy
The only thing important to our president is playing golf and see how much dept he can ring up...
Congress needs to over ride the law under emergency circumstances and open the door for mass deportations. Take the 2 Billion and use it to pay for troops and militia to secure the border.
We should have been working on border control 50 years ago. Even back in the 80's Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million immigrants. What the heck are we doing to this country?
This is insane...just send them back! We don't have anymore money. How is it that they cut food stamps for the poor, people are drowning in student aid debt, 1000's of Americans lost their homes...yet we have to cough up money for illegal immigrants. Just send them back the same way they came. Americans shouldn't have to pay for that. We can't even afford to go to the gas station!!!! Just send them back!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tell their government to come and get them!
Billions!
Wow, we only need a fraction of that to take care of the long term unemployed so they can have their extended benefits.
Maybe President Obama can sign an "Executive Order" so the real crisis inside of the fence can be handled.
Immigration will always be a problem. Make it illegal to hire undocumented workers in any establishment.
Any business found hiring undocumented workers receive 15 days jail and $10,000.00 fine.
There is an Italian Pizza shop down the street from me. Funny thing is, there is not (one) Italian person making pizza in the (Italian Pizza Place), they are all Mexican. There was a time when you'd walk into an Italian restaurant in the U.S.A., and it felt like an Italian restaurant.
Start by solving the problem on this side of the fence and the folks on the other side will think twice about climbing over. They have it good!
STOP the goodies and they will go home for FREE! Why is that so hard to figure out?
Pass a law giving him $2 Billion to secure the border, and require that all unaccompanied minors be immediately sent back to their home country without a hearing or any other delays. That is all the $$ can be used for – border security and immediate transport home.
Spend...spend...spend....but no solution in sight to fix the problem once and for all. Typical politician's game indeed.
As a huge supporter of obama i dont agree with this
Why does the government need $2,000,000,000 to fix this. Didn't they just buy 2,000,000,000 bullets?
Only if the money is to transport them back to their own country!
this is manipulation. he allowed all these children to stay instead of stopping them from entering or deporting them and he let the conditions get to the point they are that now congress will feel pressured that if they deny him they look like monsters for not taking care of these children.
why so much money. it doesn't cost that much to fly all those kids back to their country of origin and secure the Border.
No money just send them back across the border and give mexico the headache. Also screw the agreement we have with mexico on trade don't let anything or anyone across the border and if they cross from here to there don't let them back in. Then stop trade with all south American countries this will solve a lot of this if they are going to lose trade because they can't contain there people. This goes for any other country that thinks this is a dumping ground.
brenna56, Texas can always send those kids to DC and the liberal states, you can house them, feed them, clothe them, educate them and love them, plus you can indoctrinate them to your beliefs.