Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) unveiled his immigration bill today which would end Central American asylum claims at the U.S. border and would allow for the return of unaccompanied minors to their home countries.
Graham says his legislation seeks to close loopholes exploited by illegal immigrants.
“The word is out on the street in Central America if you bring a minor child with you, your chance of being deported goes to almost zero, your hearing date is years away and we release you inside the country and that’s the goal of coming,” he said.
Fox News reports:
His bill would extend the time families can be held together from 20 days to 100 days to help allow claims to be filed without families being released into the U.S. It would also add an additional 500 immigration judges to deal with the backlog of asylum claims.
As for asylum claims, they would no longer be dealt with at the U.S. border. Instead, Graham seeks to have those applications filed at refugee processing centers in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala or El Salvador.
“No matter how high the wall will be built, how many drones you have, no matter how many agents you have in the border, they’ll keep coming because they want to get caught,” Graham said to reporters.
