AP: Budget Bill Ignores Immigration Courts, Boosts Detention

The Associated Press is reporting that “… Congress’ must-pass budget bill ignores the Obama administration’s request to accelerate spending on immigration courts to handle the flood of unaccompanied minors at the border ā€” even as it boosts spending flexibility for Border Patrol agents and detention centers.”

The budget bill has created an odd double-speak for Democrats, who on the one hand key party leaders convinced President Obama to delay immigration action until after the November elections, and on the other blame the GOP for inaction. The AP reports that “… meanwhile, Senate Democrats barely prevented Republicans from blocking President Barack Obama from fulfilling a promise to issue an executive order before the end of the year that might protect from deportation possibly millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.

The same story adds that “… immigrant advocates complained that House Republicans who wrote the bill focused on detaining Central American youths and families who crossed the border while ignoring the need for more immigration judges to hear their cases, and lawyers to represent the youths.”

Read the full AP report, via ABC News, here:Ā Spending Bill Leaves out Immigration Courts