The Worst Provision in the Funding Bill
Think about the children
By Andrew R. Arthur on February 16, 2019
Despite assertions by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that "women and children at the border are not a security threat, they are a humanitarian challenge — a challenge that President Trump's own cruel and counterproductive policies have only deepened," in fact, provisions in the recently passed spending bill (formally the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019", H. J. Res. 31) will make that "humanitarian challenge" even worse, at least as it applies to children.
Specifically, section 224 of that act states:
(a) None of the funds provided by this Act or any other Act, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the United States derived by the collection of fees available to the components funded by this Act, may be used by the Secretary of Homeland Security to place in detention, remove, refer for a decision whether to initiate removal proceedings, or initiate removal proceedings against a sponsor, potential sponsor, or member of a household of a sponsor or potential sponsor of an unaccompanied alien child (as defined in section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)) based on information shared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Worst-Provision-Funding-Bill
