©picture alliance / NurPhoto | Kyle Mazza
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill on Tuesday to further fund Donald Trump's immigration policy, marking a significant win for one of his administration's top priorities.
More than half of the $70 billion (over 60 billion euros) package will go to the controversial migration agency ICE. The bill was already approved in the Senate last week and also provides about $26 billion (22.5 billion euros) for the Border Patrol protection service as well as some $5 billion for "unforeseen costs." With this, President Donald Trump, despite sharp opposition from the Democratic Party, is realizing one of his biggest election promises.
ICE operations, including those in Minnesota, continue to face regular criticism and opposition. In January, for example, two U.S. citizens were shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Now, the dossier is entering the Oval Office. If President Trump agrees to the plan, which he is expected to do, a months-long political impasse in the U.S. will finally come to an end. His party colleagues are cheering the breakthrough.
"In less than two years, President Trump has taken the border from the most broken to the most secure in history. The bill we passed today anchors those gains for the remainder of his term," Senator Lindsey Graham responded to CNBC.
Democrats did not want funding for both ICE and CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) since two citizens were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January. A more than two-month partial government shutdown followed, and Republicans were forced to switch to the budget repair process. Now, a breakthrough was finally forced, resulting in a victory for Trump and his supporters.
©picture alliance / NurPhoto | Kyle Mazza