Immigration Reform 2014: Courts Speed Up Child Immigration Hearings; Emergency Spending Package May Stall as Tea Party Rallies Against It

An emergency spending package meant to address the border crisis and backed by the Republican House leadership appeared to be in trouble on Wednesday, as courts began to speed up hearings for the tens of thousands of Central American children caught on the U.S. border.

Word of the discord over the emergency funding came after a group of about two dozen conservative tea party lawmakers, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, gathered to discuss ways to push back against approving the package.

"People were not happy with the bill that the House leadership has," said Representative Michele Bachmann, according the New York Times. "There wasn't any support in the room."

As members of the conservative group emerged from Cruz’s office, the group was adamant that they would oppose the nearly $660 million bill, which is scheduled for a vote today.

The bill would send emergency funds to the federal agencies slated with helping to secure the border, but would focus on the groups that are projected to run out of money before the end of the fiscal year -- which means ICE and Customs would be the likely recipients of the funds.

The emergency funding would also be used to speed the deportation of unaccompanied Central American minors who have been waiting months, if not years, to have their cases heard in front of immigration judges.

The push back against the proposed bill signals a deeper divide among lawmakers that crosses party lines.

“It doesn’t sound like the Granger bill has the votes to pass,” said Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), according to The Hill.

“Most of us feel like DACA is the main problem here. That’s what started this whole show and why we have such a disaster,” Fleming said, adding that, “There’s just a sense that [the leadership is] maneuvering in different ways to gather enough votes to pass something."

But even if the bill stalls, there appears to be movement on the immigration reform front -- at least in terms of court hearings.  Immigration courts have already begun to speed up hearings for Central American children, in response to criticism over the long wait time for cases to be heard.

There are currently about 400,000 cases waiting in line for immigration courts to hear them, which means immigrants can wait a number of months -- or even years -- for a hearing. The youth cases were historically bumped to the back of the line in lieu of adult cases.

But under the new push for faster hearings, courts are giving children priority, with judges scheduling an initial hearing within three weeks, according to the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. 

While many immigration lawyers have long asked courts for a speedier remedy, the concern under the new system is that the courts are moving too fast, and the children caught between deportation and asylm may not end up with enough time to build a case as to why they should be allowed to stay legally.

There is also the concern that children could miss scheduled deportation hearing notices, which could lead to deportation orders. There are also not enough immigration attorneys to go around -- at least not pro-bono -- and there is a much higher level of difficulty when it comes to children's cases. 

This new expedited system started in Los Angeles this week, and is expected to be picked up in other courts across the nation in the coming weeks.