The Hill
By Rebecca Shabad
July 7, 2015
Nearly
60 groups are calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to exclude
proposed language in a spending bill that would suspend aid to Central
American countries
if they don’t meet certain commitments.
House
Republicans have included a clause in their fiscal 2016 bill funding
the State Department and foreign operations that would require the
suspension of aid if Central
American governments fail to address the crisis of unaccompanied
children migrating to the U.S.
“These
conditions would encourage the implementation of policies that violate
the right of people to emigrate, a right enjoyed by all people, and
would dangerously undermine
the right of persecuted people to seek territorial access to a country
of asylum,” the groups wrote in a letter Monday to the Senate panel.
The
House bill would direct the secretary of State to suspend assistance to
Central American countries if their governments don’t take steps to
improve border security,
enforce laws to reduce the flow of illegal migrants to the U.S.,
conduct public outreach campaigns about the journey’s dangers, and
cooperate with U.S. federal agencies to facilitate and expedite the
return of migrants to their native countries.
“We
call on the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure
that their State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill for FY16
does not contain the dangerous
'SUSPENSION OF AID' clause that was included in the House version or
any similar conditions,” the letter continued.
The AFL-CIO and Amnesty International USA are among the groups that signed the letter.
The
groups said the House bill’s language “undermines” the U.S. commitment
to border protection, the rule of law and “forces people back into
peril.”
A
Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday afternoon will mark up
its version of the bill, but text of the legislation won’t be released
until after the full committee
marks it up.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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