State House Speaker Chuck Kleckley returned from a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this week. He traveled there with Gov. Bobby Jindal and Louisiana’s state police superintendent Col. Mike Edmondson to get a first hand look at the nation’s immigration crisis, and what it could mean for Louisiana.
The trip comes in the wake of reports of a spike in the number of unaccompanied immigrant children coming into the U.S.. The Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement's tally shows more than 30,000 unaccompanied immigrant children being placed with sponsors in the U.S. during the first half of this year.
State Rep. Valerie Hodges sent a letter to Gov. Jindal on July 30 asking him to take action. Jindal followed up with a letter of his own, pressing President Obama about the 1,071 immigrant children placed in Louisiana between January and July.