Texas Democrats and the Border Crisis Bill

Julian Aguilar, with the Texas Tribune, wrote an article titled Texas Democrats Divided Over Border Crisis Bill on July 15th. The article addressed the current debates regarding the HUMANE Act Bill. This bill addresses the current situation Texas is dealing with concerning the increased number of unaccompanied Central American children crossing the border into the U.S. The bill proposes that all unaccompanied children crossing the border would be treated the same, as apposed to a 2008 provision that gives greater protection to unaccompanied minors from Mexico or Canada.

The article details the debates presented by two Democrats, U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso and U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

1. Beto O'Rourke: 
1. Opposes the bill due to the fact that it would cause thousands of children to be rushed through the court process and most likely send children back to the potentially dangerous situations they came from.
2. Does not believe children are offered a fair chance in regards to waiving their immigration hearings because they have little understanding of the law as well as few resources to defend themselves.
2. Henry Cueller:
1. Supports the bill and does not believe any current protections would be taken away from minors. 
2. Sees the bill as a way to help streamline the process by increasing the resources, including 40 additional immigration judges, to ensure that the cases are presented in a timely manner. This is an improvement on the current law in which the wait time can be between three to five years for a child to see a judge.

Due to the impact of this situation on Texas I believe this is an important topic to be following right now. This article presents a good summary and explanation of the various standpoints Democratic leaders in Texas are currently taking on the issue. As with most things, the complexity of this current situation requires political leaders and citizens to take the take to really read and understand the history leading up to our current situation in order to evaluate the best plan of action.