US Congress moves to address migrant crisis on border

WASHINGTON — With the surge in migration at the United States' southern border again capturing global attention, the Senate on Wednesday approved a $4.6 billion bill to address the crisis, setting up negotiations with the House and President Donald Trump over how the funds should be used.

A photograph distributed around the world this week of Oscar Alberto Martinez and his toddler daughter Valeria lying dead, face down on the banks of the Rio Grande river, renewed debate about the plight of Central American migrants.

"Ever since he first told me that they wanted to go, I told him not to," Rosa Ramirez, Oscar's mother, said in El Salvador. "I had a feeling, it was such an ugly premonition. As a mother, I sensed that something could happen."

Congressional leaders must choose between a bill from the Republican-controlled Senate and a more restrictive $4.5 billion bill passed by the Democratic-led House on Tuesday night. They also could reach a compromise and send that to Trump.

Trump, who spoke with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, told reporters he believed Pelosi "wants to get something done". Pelosi called Trump on Wednesday to "try to reconcile" the House and Senate bill, a senior Democratic aide said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Pelosi suggested a few changes, but Schumer did not outline them.

The issue of immigration is a divisive one in American politics. Trump made it a centerpiece of his election campaign in 2016. At his campaign rallies, he frequently hears a chant of "Build the Wall", which so far he has largely been restrained by Congress from doing so.

He may have had his best opportunity in 2017 and 2018, when Republicans controlled the House and Senate. The Democrats took control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections.

Trump has faced grumbling in his political base because the number of people apprehended at the border with Mexico has reached record highs.

According to a June 5 news release by US Customs and Border Patrol, enforcement actions on the Southwest border reached 676,315 through May 2019, up 99 percent over last year at this time. Total apprehensions on the Southwest border reached 593,507. In the previous seven years, the highest fiscal year total of apprehensions was 479, 371 in 2014.

"We are experiencing a systemwide emergency that is severely impacting our workforce, facilities and resources," acting CBP chief John Sanders said in the release. Sanders has said he will resign, effective July 5.

The Trump administration has faced criticism recently over conditions inside a Border Patrol facility in Clint, Texas, for inadequate food, lack of medical care, and older children trying to care for toddlers, The Associated Press reported.

Any solution reached in Washington will require compromise on both sides because of the wide political gulf on the issue.

Some Republicans argue that the Democrats don't want to take strong action because they are looking to gain an electoral advantage through migration.

Democrats and immigrant rights groups have accused the administration of opposing the immigrants for demographic reasons, because they are largely from Spanish-speaking nations in Central America, such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Many of the migrants say that they are fleeing violence and poverty in their home nations.

Some Republicans contend that the surge of migrants can overwhelm schools, hospitals and law enforcement. Still, some business groups welcome the immigrants to the workforce.

Democrats argue that the US has always been a nation of immigrants, whose presence is a net plus for the country.

The issue of "sanctuary cities" and states also has been a contentious one, with such jurisdictions refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when the agency attempts to enforce deportation orders.

ICE has become a target of some Democratic presidential candidates, who opened the 2020 political season in Miami on Wednesday with the first of two debates this week.

Trump has been accused by opponents of "manufacturing a crisis" on the border for political reasons. His declaration of a national emergency on the border in February was opposed by members of both parties.

But the stark photos of thousands of men, women and children making their way through Mexico en route to the US is compelling Washington to act on a bipartisan basis.

Trump recently threatened Mexico with escalating tariffs if the country didn't help stem the flow of migrants through its land.

"We've got Border Patrol agents right now pulling money out of their own pockets to pay for diapers for these kids," Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, told reporters.

The House-passed bill contains health and nutrition standards for migrants in custody as well as other controls on US immigration agencies following reports of poor conditions facing children at overcrowded facilities. Trump has threatened to veto that approach, and the Senate rejected it on Tuesday.

The Senate then passed its own proposal, which has fewer restrictions than the House version, but includes money — left out by the House — to pay overtime for ICE employees. It also includes $145 million to help the Defense Department cover costs for Pentagon operations at the border ordered by Trump.

Mark Morgan, acting director of ICE, is expected to take over for Sanders at CBP and to take a tough approach on migration.

Morgan worked at the FBI under then-Director James Comey and moved to the CBP in 2014. He rose to the leadership of CBP at the end of President Barack Obama's second term, but was removed from the job when Trump took office.

The Houston Chronicle reported that Morgan "worked his way into Trump's good graces through appearances on Fox News, where he praised the president".

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the Senate's measure. "The Senate bill is not a humanitarian bill by any stretch of the imagination," she told reporters.

Reuters contributed to this story.