The second highest ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), made a strong statement on Tuesday, calling for the immediate deportation of most unaccompanied alien minors from Central America who are streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border during the ongoing surge. While a few Democrats, mostly from border states, have taking a tougher position on the surge, Hoyer is the highest ranking Democrat to do so.
Rep. Hoyer told reporters:
"We cannot give these children sanctuary except in extraordinary circumstances. Obviously we have refugee status and protective status for people, but the whole sale coming over the border of teens to less is not sustainable in the United States. ...
"Look, you've got to make sure these children are safe in your country. The United States cannot be expected to give sanctuary to every single child in the world that is exposed to danger in their country because of the failure of the country's government or local municipality's government to assist in keeping their own children safe."
Earlier this week, Pres. Obama requested a $3.7 billion emergency funding package to deal with the border crisis, however, most of the money would go towards housing, feeding, and relocating unaccompanied alien children who enter the United States illegally and providing them with legal representation. Pres. Obama had first signaled that he would push for a legislative fix to a 2008 law that requires that unaccompanied alien children from noncontiguous countries be treated differently than those from Mexico or Canada. His emergency funding request failed to address the policy.
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