With approximately 90,000 undocumented children projected to cross the Mexico-U.S. border, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are trying to address the topic with new legislation, and immigrant rights' groups are observing.

One proposal in development comes from Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. President Barack Obama had requested $3.7 billion to address the immigration crises at the southern U.S. border, but Senate Democrats has decreased the requested budget by $1 billion.

According to Sen. Mikulski, in a statement, "The total amount of the president's request will be needed. However, based on a review of what is needed in calendar year 2014 to meet needs at the border, the bill reduces the president's request by $1 billion."

Mikulski's drafted legislation proposes up to $2.7 billion. The Maryland senator noted the U.S. has an "obligation" to help solve the immigration crisis but it "running out of money."

According to National Immigration Forum's Executive Director Ali Noorani, Mikulski's proposal is a "strong" first step in the right direction.

"It's a clean supplemental bill that must inspire action from Congress immediately," said Noorani. "The bill tackles the crisis from all directions, as it should. It would address the root causes, provide more money to the Department of Justice to better respond to the crisis, and help the Department of Health and Human Services provide adequate care for unaccompanied children."

The proposed $2.7 billion includes sufficient funding to last for the end of the year. The funds will be allocated to the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice. The proposed budget comes as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told members of Congress that funding addressing the crisis has nearly exhausted. He stated the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will have insufficient funds by mid-August, while the Customs and Border Protection would be out of financial support by mid-September.

"It is worrisome that hundreds of millions of dollars would be set aside for additional detention of families. But overall, this is an actionable bill that would provide immediate solutions," added Noorani.

According to the Detention Watch Network, ICE's contract with Arizona's Pinal County Jail recently expired, which served to detain immigrants and touted as one of the worst jails in the country.

"ICE's decision to end its contract with the Pinal County Jail is long overdue. Year after year, since the beginning of this contract, men and women detained in the jail have bravely protested the punitive treatment and inhumane conditions," said ACLU of Arizona's Policy and Advocacy Director Victoria Lopez.

Lopez added that ICE and county officials were "well-aware" of the jail failing to meet federal detention standards. She stated ICE must take additional efforts to ease its reliance on detention facilities and use "safer and more humane" alternatives than detentions.

"Conditions at detention centers across the country have gotten so bad that the only answer is to start shutting them down," said Detention Watch Network's Interim Executive Director Silky Shah. "We are hopeful that ICE will follow suit with the other Expose and Close facilities, especially the Etowah Detention Center in Alabama, which they tried to close in 2010."

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