Bill addresses migrant influx at southern border

A group of lawmakers recently introduced a measure designed to respond to the migrant influx at the southern border.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) joined Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX) in introducing the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, maintaining the bill would enhance initiatives put in place by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The legislation would expand capacity to manage migration influxes and adjudicate asylum claims promptly; protect unaccompanied migrant children; reduce the impact on local communities, ensuring migrants are treated fairly and humanely; and ultimately deter those who do not have realistic asylum claims from placing themselves in danger by making the journey to our southern border.

“I have seen firsthand that law enforcement at our southern border has been overwhelmed by this historic surge of migrants, and border communities are straining to provide whatever assistance they can,” Cornyn said. “With the Border Patrol estimating that this situation will only get worse, we must address this in a meaningful way that is fair to migrants seeking asylum, takes the pressure off of our border communities, and allows our Border Patrol agents to focus on their primary mission of securing the border.”

Bill features include the establishment of at least four regional processing centers in high-traffic Border Patrol sectors to handle the influx of migrants along the southwest border and improve interagency coordination; the creation of pilot programs to facilitate fairer and more efficient credible fear determinations and asylum decisions, while ensuring fairness through provisions to protect access to counsel, language translation services and legal orientations; and the establishment of prioritized docketing of migrants’ immigration court cases during irregular migration influx events to deliver legal certainty for migrants.