Sen. Graham Introduces Immigration Bill to Fix Legal Loopholes

Legislation being introduced into the Senate is aimed to close the legal loopholes that allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to enter and stay in the United States without a valid asylum claim.

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) bill, titled “Secure and Protect Act of 2019,” outlines four main fixes. The first is that asylum must be claimed in either the individual’s home country or in Mexico. That will prevent illegal immigrants from gaining access to the United States unless their claim is approved.

Under the current system, if an adult brings a child illegally into the United States and claims asylum, there is a 98 percent chance they will stay indefinitely. In some areas, where the Border Patrol is overwhelmed, fewer than 10 percent of illegal aliens claim asylum, but are still released after 48 to 72 hours.

The bill also provides a fix to the Flores Settlement Agreement, which was expanded by a judge in 2015 and has, in part, contributed to the surge in family units since then. In 2015, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California said no minor can be held in detention longer than 20 days. Previously, that rule only applied to unaccompanied minors, not those who were part of family units. The result is that families are released within a few days.

Kansas man charged in unprovoked park stabbing that left woman critically injured

Imagine How Disruptive to Americans’ Lives Dems Will Be If They Regain Control in Congress, If They’re This Bad Now

California man paroled under ‘youthful offender’ provision for 2 murders kills again less than a year later

‘Stunning Reversal’: Trump Re-Endorses GOP Rep. a Month After Dramatically Withdrawing Support

NYC Mayor Mamdani’s wife glorified terrorists in online posts, criticized US military: report

Unauthorized drones detected over US Air Force base housing nuclear-capable B-52 bombers: military

Chicago’s teetering debt is stark warning left-wing mayor is fueling ‘pay later’ doom cycle: expert

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Arrested Christian Street Preacher

Democrats Are Madder Than Ever at Fetterman After He Gave Trump a Key Boost: ‘He Needs to Go’

FBI warns Russian hackers targeting Americans on Signal; thousands of accounts compromised

GOP whip: ‘America-hating terrorists’ should lose citizenship under SCAM Act

Highway shut down after waste truck carrying dead bird flu ducks crashes in northern Indiana

Jimmy Gracey’s wallet found intact, but drugging not ruled out in death of Alabama student in Barcelona

DOJ seeks charges dismissed for two officers accused of falsifying Breonna Taylor warrant

9-year-old dies in viral ‘blackout challenge’ horror as parents demand accountability: ‘It’s life or death’

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen estimated that 1 million illegal immigrants will be apprehended this fiscal year. The largest increase of illegal border crossers are family units. More than half of the 460,000 Border Patrol apprehensions so far this fiscal year are individuals within family units—a 400 percent increase over the same time period in fiscal 2018.

Graham’s bill would increase the time in detention to 100 days, which would allow for the adjudication of an asylum case, and a quick deportation if status is not granted.

“I’m trying to turn the faucet off. These loopholes are creating a humanitarian crisis,” Graham said in a press conference on May 15. “If we do nothing, what’s it going to look like next year?”

In conjunction, Graham wants an additional 500 immigration judges hired to help adjudicate the cases and clear the almost 900,000-case backlog that exits.