House won’t approve Obama’s request for $3.7B for border crisis

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s $3.7 billion emergency request for the border crisis is too big and the House won’t approve it, the chairman of the House committee that controls spending said Friday.

“It’s too much money. We don’t need it,” Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) told reporters.

“There are pieces of it that need to be dealt with immediately and that’s what we’re working on,” Rogers said, but when asked whether the House would approve the spending package as is, he said “no.”

Rogers’ comments to reporters underscore the challenges ahead as Obama pushes Congress to approve the money to deal with tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors showing up at the US border with Mexico. Many are fleeing gang violence in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and are drawn by rumors that once here, they could stay.

More than 57,000 have come since October, overwhelming Border Patrol facilities in South Texas.

Republicans have said they won’t agree to the spending without significant policy changes to speed the return of the children to their countries, and Rogers’ objection to the size of the request adds an obstacle.

At the same time, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus held a news conference Friday to announce it would oppose any efforts to attach legal changes to the spending measure to return the children home more quickly.

“I plan to support the president’s budget request, but we must make sure that we do not short-circuit justice for the children,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). “They get their day in court as the law mandates.”

Obama administration officials have said they, too, support amendments to a 2008 law aimed at helping victims of human trafficking that appears to be contributing to the current crisis by ensuring court hearings for the children now arriving from Central America. In practice, that often allows them to stay in this country for years as their case winds its way through the badly backlogged immigration court system, and often they never show up for their court dates.

Gutierrez said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus would voice its opposition to weakening the law at a meeting with Obama next week. Immigration advocates and liberal Democrats say the changes would result in the children losing legal protections and being put back in harm’s way.

Rogers also said some of the president’s request is already included in Congress’ regular spending bills for 2015, though the ultimate fate of those measures is unclear and no final action on them is likely until after the November midterm elections.

Together, the comments Friday from Gutierrez and Rogers underscore how the White House is caught between powerful political crosscurrents as it tries to tackle the crisis with midterm elections around the corner.