2014: Schweikert Voted For Legislation Providing Additional $694 Million To Border Agencies Who Have Nearly Exhausted This Year's Funding Due To The High Number Of Child Migrants; Bill Would Also Allow Quicker Deportation Of Unaccompanied Children Not Lawfully Present In The Country. In August 2014, Schweikert voted for a bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, would "appropriate[] $694 million for federal agencies involved in border control and the housing and care of unaccompanied migrant children apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border to ensure that those agencies have sufficient funding through the end of this fiscal year. It [would] include[] funding for the National Guard to help bolster security at the border and provides funding for more immigration judges. It [would] also modif[y] [a] 2008 anti-trafficking law [the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008] to allow children from countries deemed appropriate by the State Department, including Central American nations, to be more quickly returned to their own countries. The bill's spending [would be] entirely offset through rescissions of other federal funds." The House passed the bill by a vote of 223 to 189. The bill died in the Senate. [House Vote 478, 8/1/14; Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5230]
2008 Anti-Trafficking Law Required HHS To Care For Unaccompanied Children From Non-Neighboring Countries Caught Entering The U.S. Illegally Until An Immigration Court Decides Their Asylum Claim. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Under a 2008 anti-trafficking law, [...] unaccompanied children from contiguous nations (Canada and Mexico) who are apprehended for illegally entering the country generally can agree to be immediately repatriated to their home nation by U.S. border agencies. But unaccompanied children from other nations must be transferred to the custody of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, which is responsible for their care and shelter and, if possible, for placing them with family members in the United States as they await hearings before U.S. immigration courts to ask for asylum." [Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14]
Recent Flood Of Child Migrants Had Nearly Exhausted HHS And Homeland Security Border Enforcement Agencies' Funds For The 2014 Fiscal Year. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Since the beginning of the fiscal year, U.S. officials say that more than 57,000 unaccompanied children have made their way into the United States across the southern border, the vast majority from three Central American countries: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The U.S. Border Patrol has also apprehended more than 55,000 people traveling as families, often mothers with young children. HHS has had difficulty finding housing for all the migrants, with efforts to house them at facilities across the nation sometimes sparking community protests. Responding to the surge of migrants has also consumed much of the budgetary resources of HHS and Homeland Security Department border agencies, and officials have warned that they could soon run out of money. Meanwhile, immigration court hearings are backlogged, and it can take more than a year for an individual's hearing to occur." [Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14]
July 2014: Obama Administration Requested $3.7 Billion In Additional Funding To Handle The Higher Numbers Of Migrants, While Senate Democrats Proposed A $2.7 Billion Funding Package. According to Congressional Quarterly, "In early July, the administration requested $3.7 billion for a border supplemental. The request included $1.8 billion for HHS activities, including care and housing; $1.1 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities; $433 million for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) response activities; $300 million for the State Department, including for the repatriation of migrants to their home countries; and $64 million for Justice Department activities, mostly to hire additional immigration judge teams and expand courtroom capacity, including through videoconferencing. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, introduced a supplemental (S 2648) that contained a $2.7 billion bill to address border issues -- including $1.2 billion for HHS, $343 million for CBP and $763 million for ICE. The Senate measure also included $615 million for wildfires, as requested by the administration, and $225 million for the Israeli defense Iron Dome system, raising the bill's total spending level to $3.6 billion." [Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14]
By Contrast, House Republicans' Bill Would Provide Only Enough Funds To Cover The Rest Of The Current Fiscal Year, And Would Change The 2008 Law To Enable Quicker Deportation Of Unaccompanied Children. According to Congressional Quarterly, "House leaders, facing opposition from conservatives to such funding requests, as well as a desire among Republicans to change the 2008 anti-trafficking law to make it easier to deport unaccompanied migrants, originally settled on a proposal that would provide $659 million --- funding they said was sufficient to cover federal agencies for the remaining months of this fiscal year. The proposal also included numerous recommendations made by a GOP Border Crisis Working Group, including to change the 2008 anti-trafficking law so that unaccompanied migrant children from Central America could be more quickly deported. [...] Both measures [the funding bill and a companion bill barring President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative] were originally scheduled to be considered by the full House on July 31." [Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14]
House Republican Leaders Also Agreed To Have The House Vote On A Bill Barring President Obama's Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Initiative. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Still, many House GOP conservatives were uneasy with supporting any such funding. To gain their support and ensure that the bill can pass with GOP votes, given that little Democratic support was expected, House leaders agreed also to move a separate bill (HR 5272) that would effectively block the administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was created by President Barack Obama through executive action through the Homeland Security Department in 2012." [Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14]
Facing Opposition From House Conservatives To Package, House Republican Leaders Changed Funding Bill To Enable Even Quicker Deportation Of Unaccompanied Children And To Add $35 Million For Border States' National Guards. However, faced with opposition from Republican conservatives --- who felt that both the expedited removal and the anti-DACA provisions didn't go far enough, or made deportation of child immigrants more difficult --- the bills were pulled from the schedule after Republican leaders determined that they lacked sufficient support to pass. By Friday morning, however, Republicans announced that they had support for a modified package of bills that includes more streamlined language on the process for removing unaccompanied immigrant children from the United States, prevents any new DACA cases and also provides an additional $35 million for states for National Guard activities on the border with Mexico." [Congressional Quarterly, 8/1/14]
Washington Post: Collapse Of Original Bill "Was Triumph For House Conservatives" That Forced House Leaders "To Mostly Capitulate To The Conservative Demands." According to The Washington Post, "The collapse of the original border security plan offered by House GOP leaders was a triumph for conservatives in the Republican caucus, who saw it as a high point in their troubled relationship with Boehner and his more centrist leadership team. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), one of those conservatives, described the retreat by Boehner as one of the highlights of her career, because the leadership was forced to mostly capitulate to the conservative demands." [Washington Post, 8/1/14]
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) Reportedly Led Group Of Immigration Opponents Who Negotiated Revised Version Of House Bill That Ultimately Passed The House. According to The Washington Post, "'Leadership knew they couldn't pass their bill,' Bachmann said, and as a result were forced to agree to revisions offered by tea party members, led by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a vocal opponent of Obama's immigration policy who has been criticized by Democrats and immigration advocates for his harsh descriptions of migrants seeking to cross the border. When the conservatives sat down to hash out differences with GOP leadership Thursday night in the basement of the U.S. Capitol, 'it went as smooth as silk,' Bachmann said. 'Steve laid it out, and in less than two hours, we worked it out. It was really a painless process. But it was the first time that I've seen leadership recognize, with respect and admiration, the work that Steve King did. Steve helped to completely gut this bill.'" [Washington Post, 8/1/14]
King: Revised Bill Package Was "Like I Ordered It Off The Menu." According to a post on Roll Call's 218 blog, "They [House leadership and holdout conservatives] at last sealed the deal on Friday by making the DACA bill more stringent while broadening the changes to the 2008 trafficking law. The changes included allowing minors to remain in the custody of immigration enforcement officials as they await deportation proceedings, and on language regarding government investigations into whether the adults taking custody of those minors paid criminal smugglers for their passage. One of leadership's harshest critics, Rep. Steve King of Iowa, told CQ Roll Call the new package was 'like I ordered if off the menu.'" [Dumain post, Roll Call's 218 blog, 8/1/14]
U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops' Immigration Issues Leader: Bill "Eviscerates American Values [...] And Stains Our Record As A Defender Of Human Rights Globally." According to The Washington Post, "All but one Democrat voted against the bill, reflecting the opposition of the White House and several organizations working with illegal immigrants, including prominent religious leaders. In a sharply worded statement, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, who leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' work on immigration issues, called passage of the legislation 'a low point for our country. It eviscerates American values of justice and due process and stains our record as a defender of human rights globally.'" [Washington Post, 8/1/14]
2016: Schweikert Voted To Bar Funds To Be Used To Modify U.S. Military Buildings To House Unaccompanied Child Migrants. In May 2016, Schweikert voted for an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "bar[red] use of appropriated funds to modify military installations in the United States to temporarily house unaccompanied immigrant children." The underlying legislation was an FY 2017 Military Construction and VA appropriations bill. The vote was on the amendment. The House approved the amendment by a vote of 219 to 202. The House later passed the underlying bill, which included the policy. The Senate took no substantive action on the legislation. [House Vote 222, 5/19/16; Congressional Quarterly, 5/19/16; Congress.gov, H.R. 4971; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 1063; Congressional Actions, H.R. 4974]
2016: Schweikert Voted To Prohibit Funds From An FY 2017 Defense Appropriations Bill From Being Used To Modify U.S. Military Buildings To House Unaccompanied Migrant Children. In June 2016, Schweikert voted for an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "prohibit[ed] use of funds to modify military installations in the United States to provide temporary housing for unaccompanied immigrant children." The underlying legislation was an FY 2017 defense appropriations bill. The House adopted the amendment by a vote of 223 to 198. The House later passed the underlying bill, which included the provision. The Senate later attempted to proceed to the bill, which was rejected. [House Vote 315, 6/16/16; Congressional Quarterly, 6/16/16; Congress.gov, H.R. 5293; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 1197; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5293]
2016: Schweikert Voted To Prohibit Funds From An FY 2017 Defense Appropriations Bill From Being Used To House Unaccompanied Migrant Children At Any Military Base Or Building. In June 2016, Schweikert voted for an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "prohibit[ed] use of funds to implement, or in response to, a Nov. 25, 2015, memorandum of the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for homeland defense integration and defense support of civil authorities titled 'Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments Director, Joint Staff.'" The underlying legislation was an FY 2017 defense appropriations bill. The House adopted the amendment by a vote of 221 to 200. The House later passed the underlying bill, which included the provision. The Senate later attempted to proceed to the bill, which was rejected. [House Vote 316, 6/16/16; Congressional Quarterly, 6/16/16; Congress.gov, H.R. 5293; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 1198; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5293]