President Barack Obama recently called the increasing number of children fleeing countries such as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala a “humanitarian crisis.”

The president requested Congress allocate $3.7 billion to be used to both step up border security and improve the care that children are receiving in the facilities they’re staying.

It’s time the federal government implements real reform to the immigration process, as these children’s lives rely on it.

In June, an immigration reform bill failed in the House that would’ve helped many immigrants become citizens faster, according to NPR. It was clear many conservative lawmakers weren’t going to let this happen, and one of their main concerns was that even more families would be inclined to send their children into the United States if they heard they could more easily become citizens.

But it has long been time this process was sped up. NPR reported that the wait for citizenship can and often does take decades.

With the long wait and such difficult tests—some so difficult many Americans wouldn’t even be able to answer all the questions correctly—the process to become a citizen is too rigorous.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 ensured that unaccompanied immigrant minors from countries other than Mexico and Canada would not be deported unless decided by an immigration judge. In short, immigration will be handled case-by-case.

Assessing each child’s situation by case seems to be a good option, especially for children who have come to the U.S. to escape violence.

But with so many children crossing the border and the president’s request for money to help with this process being denied so far, I don’t see how it will be possible for all the children coming over to be heard by an immigration judge.

Changes to the immigration process have long been debated, but with this influx of children coming into U.S., it’s time to establish effective reform.  

Obama has said parents absolutely should not send their children to try to get into the U.S., and if they do, they’ll be sent back. But, with all these children already here, there’s no telling what could become of them with our sending them back.

The UN Refugee Agency found more than 48 percent of children who left their country to come to the U.S. had been, “personally affected by violence perpetrated either by organized drug cartels, gangs or State actors, and international standards would designate ‘at least half’ of the children as qualified for humanitarian status,” according to The New York Times.

Also, if the deportation process is sped up, what if they try harder, treacherous ways to come into the U.S. and evade law enforcement?

This is a humanitarian crisis and must be addressed. Lawmakers need to compromise for once on this issue to enact meaningful reform. If the fact that thousands of unaccompanied children are crossing the border to stay in our country doesn’t call for immigration reform, I don’t know what will.

The facilities in which the children stay, too, are in need of more funding.

Many of them are becoming way too overcrowded, and resources are thinning. The New York Times reported that one facility had 150 more people than usual and children were staying in packed cells with only benches to sleep on.

Because it’s a midterm election year, lawmakers are too cautious about passing legislation regarding immigration right now, but lawmakers have to put the priority of helping these children over the controversy surrounding immigration reform and the agenda of the upcoming elections to compromise.

It is going to take a considerable amount of money, as the president has called for, but we are a wealthy country and can help these children with the problems they face.

I cannot imagine the position these children are in, being in a strange place they’ve never been and being so far from their homes and families. All they want is a chance to grow up in a safe community.

It’s time for real reform to the immigration process, and I hope in light of this problem, lawmakers are able to compromise and start helping people.