Public Description:
H.R. 5114, the Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency (HUMANE) Act, would address the surge of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) on the Southwest border, but would actually make the situation much worse. Though the distinction between UACs from Mexico and other countries is removed, it exposes all of them to a complicated process which would further delay returning the children to their countries of origin. Further, it explicitly grants immigration judges the ability to unilaterally expunge an alien's notice to appear (NTA) or final order of removal at whim, assuming they were received between January 1, 2013, and enactment, giving eligible aliens multiple bites at the apple and setting a devastating precedent for immigration law. While the bill makes small beneficial changes like the addition of 40 new immigration judges, requires DHS to improve Border Security resources and equipment, and requires background checks on UAC sponsors, it implements provisions from the McCaul "Border Security" bill (H.R. 1417), which actually weakens current law while only requiring a plan to secure the border. The Senate companion is S. 2611 introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
