House Republicans sent letter to Speaker Pelosi asking to cancel or delay August Recess to address issue
By Katie Pavlich
Despite the crisis on the border continuing to rage as a result of inaction from Congress House lawmakers skipped town on Friday and headed home for a nearly month and-a-half long recess.
House Republicans sent a request to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday to cancel or delay August recess in order to address the issue with legislation.
From The Hill:
A group of House conservatives led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to cancel August recess so that lawmakers can debate a bill to fund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
In a letter signed by 34 GOP members including Roy sent to Pelosi on Thursday the lawmakers argue the lower chamber should not break without addressing funding for the agency and the humanitarian crisis at the border.
We are united in our belief that the House of Representatives should not adjourn for August recess before providing adequate funding to our men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the frontlines dealing with the ongoing humanitarian crisis on our southern border" they wrote.
Additionally we must address the largest barriers to regaining operational control of the border the letter added citing family detention the unintended consequences of the 2008 trafficking law that impedes our ability to expeditiously process unaccompanied children and loopholes in our asylum laws" as some of the examples.
The GOP members went on to blast Democrats for not moving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill through regular order arguing a debate on funding levels for ICE should have already taken place.
The White House whose officials have been urging Congress for months to close loopholes fueling rampant asylum fraud has taken notice.
Stephanie Grisham ✔@PressSec 3:29 PM - Jul 26 2019 : @realDonaldTrump keeps working hard for this country - the U.S. just signed a Safe 3rd Agreement" w/ Guatemala to help secure our border. As the President works hard to solve the crisis on the southern border I sure hope the dems enjoy their vacations!
Meanwhile the Senate Judiciary Committee is still working to mark up Chairman Lindsey Grahams legislation addressing the issue.
Senate Judiciary ✔@senjudiciary · May 15 2019: Chairman Graham today unveiled the Secure and Protect Act of 2019 to strengthen border security.
We have a perfect storm brewing at the border because of a series of broken & outdated laws related to asylum and children" said Graham. http://bit.ly/2VEL4Nu
The Graham legislation closes the gaps in current law that have led to an escalating number of immigrants traveling to the border.
Highlights of Grahams legislation include:
Katie Pavlich is the Editor at Townhall.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiepavlich. She is a New York Times Best Selling author whose latest book is entitled Assault and Flattery: The Truth About the Left and Their War on Women.
