Border funding bill passes U.S. House; Texans vote along party lines
El Paso Democrat Beto O’Rourke took to Twitter to argue the move was another sign the Democratic process was being hijacked by Trump loyalists.
“If you think the system is rigged in Congress - you’re absolutely right. How else do you explain this?” he posted.
And in further defiance of what he’s called an unnecessary physical barrier on the southern border, Republican U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, on Thursday introduced legislation that would instead call for a ”smart” wall over a physical barrier.
The Secure Miles with All Resources and Technology Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to use technology secure the border. It would also allocate an additional $110 million to coordinate border-security efforts between federal and state, local and tribal officials. Cuellar is a co-author of the proposed legislation.
“Violent drug cartels are using more modern technology to breach our border than what we are using to secure it,” Hurd said in a news release. “We can’t double down on a Third Century approach to solve 21st Century problems if we want a viable long-term solution.”
As senior members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Republican U.S. Reps. John Carter of Round Rock and Granger, were key legislators in moving the bill through the chamber.
And despite the House Democratic ire, their Senate counterparts are far more empowered and are likely to inhibit border wall measures.
As a result, these spending measures could well lay the groundwork for a government shutdown on or around Oct. 1.
The fight over the funding comes as apprehensions of unaccompanied children on the southwest border have dropped since the current federal fiscal year began in October. From October 2016 to June 30 of this year, apprehensions have dipped by about 25 percent compared to the same time period last fiscal year. It includes a 34 and 24 percent decline in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Laredo and Rio Grande Valley sectors, respectively, according to the most recent Customs and Border Protection statistics.
But the number of family units, which the federal government describes as at least one parent or guardian and one minor child, has increased by about 25 percent. Those figures include a 43 percent decrease in the Laredo sector but a 24 percent increase in the Rio Grande Valley, which was the epicenter of the migrant surge that began in 2014.
This could be one of the last votes of the summer for the U.S. House of Representatives. Members expect to return to their districts on Friday.
However, U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy notified members to keep their schedules flexible over the weekend in the event the U.S. Senate passes a health care overhaul.
Julián Aguilar reports on politics and border affairs from the Texas-Mexico border.Abby Livingston is the Texas Tribune’s Washington Bureau Chief. This story published courtesy of the Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
