DHS chief: Congress must act now on border

[Elderberry]

Brownsville Herald by LORENZO ZAZUETA-CASTRO 4/18/2019

Amid changes in leadership at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the newly selected acting secretary made the rounds in the Rio Grande Valley this week to assess the situation as asylum-seekers from Central America continue to surrender at the border.

Fresh from a midnight shift observing U.S. Border Patrol agents working in the RGV sector, Kevin McAleenan, the acting DHS secretary, addressed the media at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge Wednesday afternoon.

McAleenan, the now-former U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner recently tasked by President Donald Trump to head DHS after Kristjen Nielsen’s ouster, made remarks related to the seemingly endless arrival of asylum-seekers, and the toll it’s taking on the immigration system.

He said the solution and the responsibility to de-incentivize people from crossing the border fall squarely with lawmakers, and that laws need to change to address the problem. These are the same talking points stressed by the man who lost his job just two weeks ago — Ronald D. Vitiello, who was pushed out by Trump because he wasn’t “tough enough.”

Vitiello said during that conference that congress needed to change the laws to allow families to remain in detention while their immigration cases are pending. Specifically, Vitiello wanted changes to the trafficking victims laws, a change to the Flores settlement agreement and the credible fear process for asylum-seekers.

Prior to his remarks, the acting DHS secretary met with local mayors in the Valley, law enforcement and Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, which operates the respite center in McAllen. McAleenan addressed the ongoing humanitarian and security “emergency” along the border.

“It’s clear that all of our resources are being stretched thin, the system is full, and we are beyond capacity,” McAleenan said. “That means the new waves of vulnerable populations are adding additional pressure to the urgent humanitarian and security crisis here. We don’t have room to hold them, we don’t have the authority to remove them, and they’re not likely to be allowed to remain in the country at the end of their immigration proceedings.”

Prior to the tour of the respite center, which on Wednesday held 400 people, mostly families and children, McAleenan met privately with Pimentel and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville.

Pimentel said McAleenan, who toured the center for a little under an hour, expressed a desire to work with Catholic Charities to provide solutions for the many families arriving at the center.

More: https://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/dhs-chief-congress-must-act-now-on-border/article_e7f2b33c-61e8-11e9-a0f9-0f012145d1b3.html