A key Republican said Friday that President Barack Obama’s multibillion-dollar emergency request for the border is too big to get through the House, as a growing number of Democrats rejected policy changes Republicans are demanding as their price for approving any money.
The developments indicated that Obama faces an uphill climb as he pushes Congress to approve $3.7 billion to deal with tens of thousands of unaccompanied kids who’ve been arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border from poor and increasingly violent Central American nations. And they suggested that even as the children keep coming, any final resolution is likely weeks away on Capitol Hill.
Officials reportedly told Congress on Thursday that the $3.7 billion would in-part pay for health care, schooling and lawyers for the illegal immigrant children who have been flooding across the border recently. The Obama administration is asking lawmakers to approve the funds quickly.
THE BREAK DOWN:
• The largest amount would go to the Department of Health and Human Services, for which the White House is requesting an additional $1.8 billion to care for the unaccompanied children. “With these funds, HHS will have the resources to be able to care for the children currently projected to come into the custody of the Department of Homeland Security while putting in place more stable, cost-effective arrangements for these children going forward,” the White House said.
• The Department of Homeland Security is seeking $1.1 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as an additional $433 million for Customs and Border Protection. A large chunk of that sum would go toward the detention and removal of apprehended undocumented adults traveling with children, additional prosecution capacity for those adults, and overtime and duty costs for existing and additional Border Patrol agents.
• A total of $64 million would go to the Department of Justice, most of which would go toward hiring 40 additional immigration judge teams to speed up deportation proceedings. The White House said this would help process an additional 55,000-75,000 cases each year.
• About $300 million would go to the State Department under the proposal, most of which would go toward “efforts to repatriate and reintegrate migrants to Central America.” About $5 million of the total would go toward media messaging, in which the administration would highlight the dangerous nature of migrating from Central America to the U.S. and emphasize those who do enter the U.S. will not be given permission to stay.
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