S.Amdt. 828

SA 828. Ms. McSALLY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) During the first 5 months of May 2019, the United
States Border Patrol has apprehended more than 593,000 people
ilegally crossing the southern border of the United States,
which represents more apprehension than in all of 2018.
(2) In May 2019, 132,887 people were apprehended by the
United States Border Patrol, of whom more than 96,000 were
part of family units or unaccompanied minors.
(3) This recent surge in illegal border crossings--
(A) has placed an unprecedented strain on the resources of
the Department of Homeland Security, which has responded by
directing U.S. Customs and Border Patrol resources away from
legal ports of entry; and
(B) exceeds the capacity of the Department of Health and
Human Services, which is responsible for the care of
unaccompanied children who are apprehended at the border.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that--
(1) the recent surge of illegal border crossings--
(A) is a national security threat; and
(B) has put significant strain on the departments and
agencies that are responsible for securing the border,
implementing our Nation's immigration laws, and providing
temporary housing for the people who are awaiting removal
proceedings; and
(2) the recent increase in apprehensions along the southern
border, coupled with the lack of sufficient resources at the
Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health
and Human Services will further exacerbate this humanitarian
crisis.
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