Pelosi: ‘The Children Come First’ in Turnaround Decision to Support Trump’s Aid Package
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A $4.6 billion aid package will head to the southern border to alleviate worsening conditions for migrants, following a 305-102 vote that capped gridlock in Congress and a rift in the Democratic party.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had originally rallied Democrats to oppose the bill, crafting her own version in its place that included provisions to reduce funding to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, reduce border wall funding, and require migrant facilities not meeting certain health standards to be shut down within 6 months.
Pelosi relented on Thursday after 18 Democrats from the centrist Problem Solvers Coalition refused to support the new bill and voted in favor of Trump’s, reasoning that “at the end of the day, we have to make sure that the resources needed to protect the children are available.”
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), from the progressive wing of the party, accused the moderate Democrats of the Problem Solvers Caucus of “child abuse” for not supporting Pelosi’s version of the bill, which they had argued would infringe on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s ability to address human trafficking, and ultimately mean no funding got to the children in need due to the unlikelihood of Trump approving it.
“Those kids within a day are going to start getting some of the relief they need. That’s what I call good government. I don’t call that child abuse,” responded Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), a Problem Solvers member.
Apprehensions at the border spiked to their highest level in over a decade in May, simultaneous to the Trump administration disclosing that the Office of Refugee Resettlement will be almost completely bereft of funds by July.