Heck: U.S. has obligation to immigrant children

U.S. Rep. Joe Heck on Monday told a Republican audience that he voted to allow young, illegal immigrants to stay in the United States to study and work because “they have become members of our society.”

“I would not let those kids go back into the shadows,” Heck said to scattered applause.

Heck said he disagreed with President Barack Obama for signing an executive order in 2012, initially protecting from deportation children of illegal immigrants who were raised in the United States.

Heck said Obama went around Congress with the executive order, which is why he had voted previously to end the program. But now, he said, those who qualified for the program shouldn’t be suddenly robbed of its benefits, including legal work permits.

“While I disagree with the president going around Congress … they have become members of our society” and deserve to stay, getting work permits and attending college, Heck said.

Heck noted that more than 500,000 so-called DREAMers have gone through background checks in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and it would be unfair for the United States to pull a “bait-and-switch” on them and put them in danger of deportation again.

Heck was among only 11 Republicans who voted to uphold the program instead of ending it, as a majority of the GOP voted to do on Friday.

Heck’s comment came during a lunch for the Republican Men’s Club. Heck is taking a political risk by supporting young undocumented immigrants and comprehensive immigration reform, which some GOP factions see as amnesty for lawbreakers. But he got a positive reception on Monday.

Heck is running for a third, two-year term in the 3rd Congressional District in Clark County, including Henderson and Boulder City. His Democratic opponent, Erin Bilbray, has criticized Heck as being insincere on immigration, saying he really isn’t for real reform.

Heck has said he supports immigration reform, although he wants to do it in pieces instead of in an omnius bill like the reform bill that passed the Senate more than a year ago.

Heck’s district has a heavy minority population, including Hispanics who could play a decisive role in the Nov. 4 general election.

In his speech, Heck also explained why he voted with his GOP House colleagues Friday for a $694 million bill to address the border crisis with tens of thousands of Central American children crossing to seek asylym here. Now, they’re being held in overcrowded facilities with thousands being transported to other states to wait while their cases play out.

“What we see at the Southern border is a humanitarian crisis,” Heck said.

Heck blamed the Obama administration for the problem, saying it’s been caused by a “patchwork” of executive orders the president has issued as well as the inability to enforce the current laws. Many of the children believe they’ll be allowed to stay if they cross the border, but advocates also note that in many cases they’re fleeing violence in their home countries, including El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

“No matter how you feel about immigration, we have a moral responsibility to take care of these children until we repatriate them back to their parents,” Heck said to applause.

He said the House took action on the border issue although the Senate had already adjourned for a summer break because Republicans felt duty-bound to do something to address the crisis.

Obama had asked for some $3.8 billion. The Senate was considering about $1 billion, Heck said.

“If the president and the Senate don’t do their job, that doesn’t mean the House is going to stop doing theirs,” Heck said. “If you want the kids repatriated, it’s going to cost money,” he added.

The bill also amended a 2008 law that contributed to the border crisis, Heck said. The law treats children from nine Central American countries differently than those from Mexico or Canada, providing for a more drawn-out legal process to determine if they should be sent back home or offered asylum. It could take several years, he said.

The House bill would require such children to be given their first judicial hearing within 14 days, speeding up the process, he said.

“The kids are not going to get a free pass if they come here,” he said.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.