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Sen. Menendez: Don't repeal law that protects kids

Robert Menendez
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its subcommittee on Western hemisphere affairs.

We must act swiftly and decisively to stem the flow of unaccompanied minors to our nation's border and address the ongoing refugee crisis. Our response must keep these children safe and in a clean shelter until their legal status is determined. Our response must not take away their day in court and send them back to possible death. But those who want to repeal the 2008 law would be doing exactly that.

Let's be clear. The 2008 law does not open the floodgates and release children into the community, as its critics say. It simply requires these children be held in a manner that is in "the best interests of the child," and in this situation it is clearly in their "best interest" to shelter them. The Justice Department can move these cases to the front of the line for expedited hearings.

Not every child apprehended at the border will have a valid claim to stay in the country. Many will be deported. However, the rise of violent gangs that threaten the lives of children who won't join them, the rape of young women, and the violence of drug traffickers are the reasons why the children flee.

That is why we must not repeal the law that offers them protection. We must enforce it and provide the administration with the funding necessary to better address both the domestic and international aspects of this crisis.

The administration has the authority to deal with this crisis in a safe and humane manner. It has the power to surge judicial resources at the border and shelter children while their cases are heard without turning our back on the rule of law that we take pride in as a nation. In fact, it is the rupture of the rule of law in Central American nations that has caused this crisis in the first place.

This problem was not created overnight, and it will not be solved overnight, but the solution is not to abandon our values and the rule of law that we hold up as an example to the world to ensure the safety of every child wherever he or she may live.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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