Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) threw his support behind legislation on Monday that would reform an immigration law that delays the repatriation of illegal immigrant children from non-contiguous countries.
The Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency (HUMANE) Act, which was introduced by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), would allow children from non-contiguous countries to decide at the border if they would prefer to be reunited with their families back home, according to a press release.
The HUMANE Act would modify the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to handle children who arrive at the border from non-contiguous countries the same way as individuals who arrive from Mexico or Canada.
“The current law needs reform,” Dent, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, said. “The proof of that is in the photographs of children sleeping on floors in holding facilities. I’m supporting this proposal because it is a thoughtful, commonsense, bipartisan solution to the problem.”
Under the bill, children would be required to appear before an immigration judge within seven days of being screened by the Department of Health and Human Services. Judges would have 72 hours to determine whether or not the child is eligible to remain in the United States.
“We must remember the plight of these children is no fault of their own,” Dent said. “The best thing we can do as a compassionate country is to speedily repatriate the children and reunite them with their parents. That’s what this bill does and it’s why I support it.”
The HUMANE Act would also allocate additional resources to help maintain border control.