A key Senate panel has given swift bipartisan approval to a $47 billion budget for the Department of Homeland Security, boosting funding to cope with an influx of Central American children who arrive in the U.S. unaccompanied by their parents.
The Appropriations Committee approved the measure by a voice vote after a brief hearing. The measure comes as the once-promising pace of the annual appropriations cycle is slowing. A procedural battle stalled an effort to bring a measure funding several other Cabinet departments to a floor vote and several contentious bills have seen committee consideration delayed.
The bill boosts the administration's request for the Customs Service and Border Patrol for initial handling of unaccompanied immigrant children arriving on the southern border by $77 million.
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