James Lankford

Before his service in Congress, James served students and families for more than 20 years in ministry, including 15 years as the Director of Student Ministry for the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma and Director of the Falls Creek Youth Camp, the largest youth camp in the United States, with more than 51,000 individuals attending each summer.

James and his staff enjoy serving people from all backgrounds across Oklahoma. As Ranking Member of the Government Operations and Border Management Subcommittee, which covers border security, management, and operations; regulatory reform; and the federal workforce. He demands we have a secure, more fiscally responsible, and transparent federal government, and our nation remains the world leader. He believes that the federal government has an important role in our nation, but empowered families, individual people, and private businesses grow our economy and pass down our values.

Migrant Family Separation at the Border:

This is a very complicated matter. It will not be solved quickly. Senator Lankford believes it should be U.S. policy to keep families together as much as possible.
A policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement led to the Departments of Homeland Security or Justice to be unable to keep children in custody with their parents for an extended period of time IF the parents are charged with a crime for crossing the border illegally. This agreement is the result of the 1997 Flores v. Reno court case, and subsequent interpretations by federal courts, about how to handle Unaccompanied Alien Children and family units who have crossed our border illegally.
On June 19, Senator Lankford sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling for a halt of family separation while Congress works on a legislative fix.
On June 20, Senator Lankford co-sponsored a bill (the Keep Families Together and Enforce the Law Act) that would keep families together while ensuring the integrity and enforceability of our immigration laws. I appreciate that the President took action with an Executive Order, but I believe that legislation is still needed to withstand legal criticism, and also codify this policy into permanent law.