海角大神

GOP lambasts Obama's border funds request

Republican leaders spoke out Sunday against the Obama administration's request for $3.7 billion in emergency funds to address waves of immigrants flooding the border.

Leading Republican lawmakers balked on Sunday at supporting a聽White House聽spending request aimed at bolstering the US聽border withMexico, where thousands of children have crossed recently, while calling for changes in the law to allow faster deportations.

罢丑别听White House聽has asked for $3.7 billion in emergency funds to help pay for border security, temporary detention centers, and additional immigration court judges to process asylum cases.

罢丑别听Obama administration聽warned lawmakers on Thursday that border security agencies would run out of money this summer if the request was not approved.

Senator聽John聽McCain, an聽Arizona聽Republican, said when asked about the spending bill that the priority had to be stopping the flow of children and teenagers from聽Central America聽to the聽United States.

"The best way to do that is for planeloads of these young people to be returning to the country of origin," he told CNN's "State of the Union." "As soon as they (parents) see their money is not effective in getting their kids to this country, it will stop."

More than 52,000 children traveling alone from Central America have been caught at the US-Mexico聽border since October, twice as many as the same period the year before.

US immigration officials say the crisis is being driven by poverty and gang and drug violence in聽Central America, as well as rumors perpetuated by smugglers that children who reach the US border will be permitted to stay.

House of聽Representatives Appropriations Committee聽Chairman聽Harold Rogers聽said last week that the聽Obama administration聽asked for "too much money" but declined to say what an appropriate figure would be.

搁别辫谤别蝉别苍迟补迟颈惫别听Michael McCaul, a聽Texas聽Republican, also declined to support the spending bill. "We're not going to write a blank check for over $4 billion," he told "Fox News Sunday." McCaul is chairman of the聽House Homeland Security Committee.

McCaul said he would support changing a 2008 law that requires deportation proceedings for children that arrive from countries that do not share a border with theUnited States. This would allow authorities to quickly deport newly arrived Central American children, as they do Mexican children.

McCaul said that bill could see action this summer.

"It's a very tragic human crisis at the border, none like I've ever seen before. I think we have to act before the August recess," he said.

The bill saw opposition from one Democrat, 搁别辫谤别蝉别苍迟补迟颈惫别听Joaquin Castro聽of聽Texas.

"That 2008 law, passed under George W. Bush, was passed for a reason," he told NBC's "Meet the Press." "Many people believe that these kids should have a chance to make their case for asylum. So I think we've got to be careful when we consider completely doing away with that law."

罢别虫补蝉听骋辞惫别谤苍辞谤听Rick Perry聽pressed the聽White House聽to send聽National Guard聽troops to the border to aid the border patrol, which has been stretched thin by the mass influx of minors.

"They need to be right there on the river because that's the message that gets back toCentral America. It's important to do that because this flood of children is pulling the border patrol away from their normal duty of keeping bad people (out)," he told "Fox News Sunday."

Perry also said that conversations among Central Americans had been monitored.

"We listen to the conversations. Er, I should say that, the conversations are being monitored with calls back to Central America and the message is, 'Hey, c'mon up here. Everything is great. They're taking care of us,'" he said.