US House passes border aid bill, Trump threatens to veto
The US House of Representatives has passed a $4.5 billion aid package to address the migrant crisis along the US-Mexico border, but the bill’s future is uncertain due to a veto threat by the White House.
The lower chamber of Congress, which is led by Democrats, voted 230-195 on Tuesday to pass the measure. Republican President Donald Trump has vowed to veto the House legislation.
The Republican-led Senate is working on its own version of the bill.
The Trump administration says the House version would restrict the president’s policy to curb illegal immigration at the southern border.
On May 1, Trump requested the aid for programs that accommodate record numbers of Central American families seeking asylum in the United States.
Over 300 migrant children were discovered last week in an overcrowded border patrol station in Texas, where they said some had been held for weeks in filthy conditions without adequate food and water.
The discovery led acting commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, John Sanders, to announce his resignation on Tuesday.
Democrats emphasized on Tuesday that while they were approving the border aid to address the humanitarian crisis, they were not ratifying the administration’s attempts to restrict and discourage immigration, which Trump has made a central focus of his presidency.
“Our legislation is a vote against the cruel attitude toward children of this administration. This bill does not fund the administration’s failed mass detention policy. Instead it funds effective humane alternatives to detention that have a proven record of success,” US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote.
The House legislation would protect the health of migrants in the custody of US border agents, including standards for medical care and nutrition. It also requires contractors to meet standards of care within six months or risk losing their contracts.
The House bill is a sham that “does not help our overstretched law enforcement authorities,” said House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.
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