Despite claims the
administration was caught off
guard,
the White House and four Cabinet departments predicted last year's surge of at
least 60,000 illegal juveniles over the U.S.-Mexico border and expect it to
more than double to 127,000 this year, according to an internal document.
A 24-page administration
PowerPoint for congressional appropriators dated April 22, 2014 bluntly stated
that border arrivals of "unaccompanied alien children" would rise
"by nearly a factor of 10" in 2014 to 60,000 and jump to 127,000
"if these growth rates continue." It is shown below.
Indications are that this year's
surge
won't meet that record number, but will be the second highest in recent
history.
The document and
accompanying graphs, provided by congressional sources, also set a price tag of
$2 billion "to accommodate" the juveniles, some members of the MS-13
crime gang, this year.
The briefing counters
claims by top federal officials that they didn't see the surge coming last
year. President Obama called it an "urgent humanitarian
situation"
in seeking nearly $4 billion, and a top aide said it "was much larger than
we anticipated."
It also indicated that
the administration is changing its policy in handling the minors in a way that
could expand the number allowed into the country, and is funneling money to
countries such as Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to reverse the
trend.
Recent reports show that
most of the illegal immigrants allowed into the United States have skipped out
on their immigration and deportation hearings.
The appropriations
briefing was presented by the Office of Management and Budget and the
departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice and State.
Shocked at what's in the
PowerPoint briefing, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fired off a letter to Health and Human
Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell demanding answers raised in the
briefing.
Cruz, a leading
Republican presidential candidate, said that it appears the administration is
deceiving the public about surge of kids. Referring to the 24-page PowerPoint,
he wrote Burwell that it "raises significant questions about whether the
administration has been truthful with the American people and Congress about
its knowledge of the scope of the UAC problem."
Citing the 2014
prediction, which was nearly correct, Cruz wrote, "Far from being an
unforeseen crisis, the high number of UAC that approached the United
States-Mexico border last summer appears to have been calmly predicted."
He also said the
administration is "tailoring" the reasons why so many illegals fled
to America. Officials had said that home-grown violence drove kids out of their
countries, making them sound like victims, but the briefing said that 51
percent "cite economic opportunity as a reason for migrating."
And he drew attention to
the briefing pages that suggest agencies are commingling expenses to
"conceal the true cost" of the program while also likely spending
State Department money to fight the problem in Latin America.
HHS is reviewing Cruz's
letter and will get back to the senator "promptly," said Health and
Human Service's Administration for Children and Families that handles refugees.
In his letter, Cruz
demanded answers to several questions and ordered that all documents and
communications on the UAC program be preserved.
He said that the
PowerPoint shows HHS "has, according to its own internal documentation,
adopted practices and strategies that, at best, could be deemed ineffective,
and at worst, do not accord with current federal law. The information also
indicates not only creative and questionable bookkeeping practices, but also an
intent to deceive the American people and Congress."
The PowerPoint drew
criticism from an outside immigration watchdog. Jessica Vaughan of the Center
for Immigration Studies said the document indicates that the administration is
not actively returning illegal juveniles and also spending heavily on the
program at a time of national budget crisis.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's
"Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.
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