Lawmakers in the region are divided over how to deal with the president's request for emergency money to deal with the flood of unaccompanied minors.
The new Republican proposal calls for deploying the National Guard to the border, while also funding more immigration judges to quickly process the unaccompanied children. The proposal still faces an uphill battle - even in the GOP. Here’s Virginia Republican Congressman Randy Forbes who has been calling for more border security.
“I can’t say that what we’re comfortable with. The devil’s always in the details.”
Other Republicans are coming around the proposal. Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith is still reviewing it, but like’s what he’s hearing.
“It’s a legitimate attempt to address the issue and to make the, one of the big pinch points, the border between Guatemala and Mexico as opposed to Mexico and Texas.”
Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine says the GOP proposal is all politics.
“I think the National Guard provision shows that it’s not really that serious because this is not a problem of kids trying to sneak across the border.”
Administration officials say the funds are needed as soon as possible, but many lawmakers are predicting Congress won’t deal with the issue until after they return from their August recess.