Heck, Bilbray disagree on how U.S. should handle migrant minors

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama should speak out to discourage families in Latin America from sending their children unaccompanied to the United States in hopes they’ll be allowed to stay, U.S. Rep. Joe Heck said.

“We need a public relations campaign in Central America saying this is not the case,” Heck said of the flood of young border crossers who are posing the latest tough immigration puzzle for authorities and policymakers.

Beyond an Obama remark or a presidential statement, Heck said U.S. ambassadors in those countries should be directed to send out a similar message.

The Nevada Republican said it should be emphasized: “If you cross the border and turn yourself in to a Border Patrol agent, you are not getting a get-out-of-jail free card.”

At the same time, Heck called for new laws targeting human traffickers who prey on impoverished families, promising to deliver their children to a better life but dumping them at the U.S. border.

Erin Bilbray, the Democrat challenging Heck’s re-election bid this year, has a somewhat different position.

Bilbray, who said she was just starting to look into the issue, agreed that traffickers should be pursued and prosecuted. As for the young migrants, she said the United States should take a humanitarian approach.

Families who send their sons and daughters north “are trying to do what’s best for their children,” she said.

“My guess is a lot of these kids do have some family here,” said Bilbray, and “I think we need to do whatever we need to do to keep the families together. I don’t know how we can humanely not do that.”

Some 47,000 children crossed the border in 2013 without an adult or guardian, and this year the number was expected to reach 60,000 but could be as many as 90,000, according to border authorities.

Previously unaccompanied young border crossers numbered 6,000 or so a year, but they started increasing in 2011.

Heck said in an interview this past week he was stumped on what to do with the arriving youngsters, who are coming primarily from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

It would be a “logistical nightmare” to try to return them to their homes far beyond the U.S. border, he said

“But I don’t think releasing them to a family member or on their own recognizance with the idea they are to report in 15 days for a hearing is adequate either,” he said.

By law, the arrivals must be turned over within 72 hours to a resettlement office, which places them in shelters while trying to find family members or some other adults to care for them while their cases move through the courts.

Obama officials attribute the spike to rising violence in Central America. Republicans contend the surge coincided with the administration’s “deferred action” policy that can be forgiving to young residents in the country illegally.

“There’s been a lot of speculation that the word in Central America is if you show up and cross the border you are going to be allowed to stay,” Heck said.

If the problem stems from a humanitarian crisis in Central America, Heck said the State Department should certify it as such. That would trigger U.S. law that allows an increase in legal migration from those countries.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow @STetreaultDC on Twitter.