Lucille Roybal-Allard: “2 weeks ago, I visited the border and saw small children held in tiny cells and forced to sleep on cold concrete floors…”

“2 weeks ago, I visited the border and saw small children held in tiny cells and forced to sleep on cold concrete floors and benches. The treatment of these vulnerable kids, many of whom fled their homes to escape extreme violence, shocked me as a mother and as an American. Unfortunately, this bill contains only 11 percent of the resources the President requested for the Department of Health and Human Services. This paltry amount will only make conditions worse for these vulnerable children by limiting the Department's bedspace capacity and exacerbating delays in transferring children away from the overcrowded Border Patrol stations into the more suitable conditions of HHS. Unfortunately, insufficient funding isn't the only flaw in this bill. By treating all children the same, the majority means taking away protections and treating Central American children like Mexican and Canadian children who have limited protection under current law. This legislation sadly undercuts the current critical humanitarian and due process protections for these desperate children seeking safe haven from the horrors of violence in their country. Without due process, many of these children who would qualify for protection under our laws will be returned straight into the arms of the traffickers or their impoverished violent neighborhoods. That is why, national antitrafficking organizations like the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking strongly oppose this bill.…”