House to vote on legislation to keep families together

WASHINGTON (WATE) — House Speaker Paul Ryan announced Wednesday that the House will vote Thursday on legislation to keep immigrant families together.

“We can enforce immigration laws without breaking families apart,” Ryan said. “We do not want children taken away from their parents.”

Ryan said under the bill, when people are being prosecuted for illegally crossing the border, families would be kept together under Department of Homeland Security custody for the duration of their legal proceedings. He added that additional funding would be made available to DHS to help fund the change.

Ryan said the bill was discussed with the president on Tuesday night.

“We are going to take action to keep families together while we enforce our immigration laws.”