Report: 117% increase in children 12 and younger crossing border alone   Mothers and children arrive in Guatemala City on July 22 after being deported from the United States. (Johan Ordonez / AFP/Getty Images) By MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKEcontact the reporter Laws and LegislationPoliticsMigrationHondurasImmigrationEl SalvadorGuatemala Unaccompanied children illegally migrating… Read more »

LA Times: FBI investigating scam targeting immigrant children's families The FBI is investigating how scammers obtained confidential information to defraud migrant children's families of thousands of dollars by telling them they needed to pay a fee to get their children out of federal custody. The investigation, which began July 18 in San Antonio, has uncovered evidence of similar scams… Read more »

Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28) met personally with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado to discuss the immigration crisis at the Texas-Mexico border.  President Hernández was also joined by the Vice President of Honduras Ricardo Antonio Álvarez Arias, the Secretary Coordinator General of Government (Prime Minister) Rigoberto Chang Castillo, and the Secretary… Read more »

Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28) announced that Webb County has received $3.3 million in federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security’s Stonegarden program to support local law enforcement.  This is an increase from the Fiscal Year 2013 amount of almost $2.8 million.  Statewide, Texas received $23.1 million law enforcement funding, an increase from $18 million… Read more »

Mend border immigration law: Our view The Editorial Board,6:17 p.m. EDT July 24, 2014 Flawed child trafficking/labor law generates big business for smugglers. One of the last things George W. Bush did as president was to sign a law to combat child labor and sex trafficking. The measure enjoyed bipartisan support. It was so uncontroversial that neither chamber of Congress ordered a… Read more »

Boehner presses Obama on law that lets child immigrants stay Posted on July 23, 2014 | By Kevin Diaz House Speaker John Boehner sent a letter to President Obama Wednesday asking him to publicly support changes to a 2008 anti-trafficking law that made it harder to deport children from Central America who come to the United States illegally. Although the White House has… Read more »

Swindlers Target Kin of Migrants MIAMI — The federal government is investigating how detailed information about migrant children being held at two American military bases wound up in the hands of con artists who are using it to lure unsuspecting relatives into paying hefty sums to reunite their families, preying on people who have been separated for years, according to the F.B.I. Tens… Read more »

Brownsville assistance centers need donations, despite fewer migrants MGN Online Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 9:51 pm BY TY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER Congress has yet to signal it will act to address the influx of Central American immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley before the August recess Wednesday, even as officials close to the situation have said the flow of migrants… Read more »

U.S. Law Is Putting Children at Risk A 2008 law for trafficking victims needs an update.   Time to change the process for unaccompanied children who come into the U.S. By Henry Cuellar July 23, 2014 | 9:00 a.m. EDT+ More Over the past two months, I have toured the Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, and the Department of Health and Human Services facility at… Read more »

Texas Rep. Cuellar: No summer break until we deal with border crisis Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas Democrat, said Wednesday that Congress needs to stay in Washington until they pass something to deal with the influx of unaccompanied minors along the United States’ southern border. “If we don’t finish this by July 31, we should stay here until we get this job done,” Mr.… Read more »