Rep. Miller on Housing of Illegal Immigrant Minors in Local MI Facilities

Statement

Today, U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10), Vice Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, issued the following statement regarding the potential housing of illegal immigrant children in Vassar, Michigan:

"The ongoing humanitarian crisis at our southern border is quickly spreading across our nation as the Administration begins transferring these illegal immigrants across our nation, including potentially here to Michigan.

"This crisis began when President Obama acted outside the law offering legal status to children who entered America illegally along with their parents. This caused many throughout Central America and Mexico to believe that all children needed to do was reach our border and they could stay, and so countless thousands began to send their children on the harrowing journey north.

"The Obama administration did not recognize this threat or disregarding the threat and has been slow to react as our border security forces have been overwhelmed. To date all the administration has offered is increased spending on aid to the same Central American nations that have helped instigate the crisis and little in terms of defending our border. It is long past time for this administration to take decisive action.

"Weeks ago I called on President Obama to send the National Guard to the border to assist our overwhelmed border security agents, and to end foreign aid and special trade agreements, like NAFTA and CAFTA, with the nations whose governments are not taking the appropriate actions needed to help us solve this problem.

"In addition, it is imperative that the people being apprehended at the border not be released from custody because if they are, it is very unlikely they will ever return for immigration hearings on their status, and they will disappear into society. In order to send the message to Central America and Mexico that our border has meaning, we must send these people back to the nations they came from, and we must do it immediately. If this requires changes to federal law, then we must immediately get about the work of changing the law.

"I stand ready to do my part in taking decisive action, now we need the Obama administration to be equally committed to taking a crisis which began due to their poorly thought out actions."

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