Texas Impact begins its August Action for Migration Justice in less than a week. As our members prepare to meet with Congressional Representatives throughout the state of Texas, we want to highlight concerns around the Humanitarian Upgrades to Manage and Assist our Nation’s Enforcement (HUMANE) Act of 2019.
The HUMANE Act is a bipartisan and bicameral bill that was introduced by both Senator John Cornyn and Representative Henry Cuellar (TX-28) on May 2, 2019. While Texas Impact applauds Sen. Cornyn and Cong. Cuellar for taking steps to bring congressional leadership to immigration policy, we echo the concerns expressed in the National Immigration Forum’s analysis of the proposed legislation and which our national denominational partners share, including:
- The bill determines that the Flores Settlement Agreement will not apply to migrant children under the age of 18 who are apprehended with their parent(s) or legal guardian. This would allow the Department of Homeland Security to detain accompanied minors and their parent(s) or legal guardian for extended periods of time. The children would not be subject to any of the protections upheld by the Flores Settlement Agreement.
- Under the proposed bill, any individual who arrives anywhere but a designated port of entry can be determined ineligible for asylum by the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General.
- The bill would strike contiguous (countries that share a border with the United States, i.e. Mexico and Canada) from the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. This would determine that all unaccompanied minors would be screened under the current conditions for children from contiguous countries. This change would allow for children from non-contiguous countries to volunteer to be returned to their country of origin. This is extremely problematic because any unaccompanied minor may not comprehend what they are consenting to nor may they understand the consequences.
Texans should thank Sen. Cornyn and Cong. Cuellar for opening the conversation, and ask them to restructure their bill to focus on protecting families and children.