TSA and the Coast Guard back on payroll!
ICE left without funding
International Desk, Mar 27 (EFE).-
The US Senate early Friday approved funding for much of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been partially shut down for six weeks, but left immigration operations and parts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without funding.
The vote took place at 2:20 a.m. local time in an unusual voice vote, according to NBC News.
The agreement funds other DHS divisions, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard, although the House of Representatives must still approve the measure before affected agencies can fully resume operations.
A vote in the Republican-controlled chamber is scheduled for later Friday.
The DHS has faced a partial shutdown since Feb. 14 due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over immigration policy and funding.
Airport disruptions
The shutdown has particularly affected TSA operations, where staffing shortages have reached about 40 percent following the suspension of paychecks. The deployment of ICE agents has failed to ease long lines at airports.
After negotiations broke down again late Thursday, senators opted to advance funding measures that already had bipartisan support, according to CNN.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would sign an executive order to ensure immediate payment to airport security personnel, aiming to reduce delays and operational disruptions nationwide.
CNN reported that while the Senate measure does not include new funding for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection, Republicans had planned to finance those agencies through a broader domestic policy package approved last year.
“One of the reasons we advanced the funding for homeland security in that big bill was because we anticipated this was likely to happen, and it did,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.
According to Politico, some Republicans are uncertain whether they can secure sufficient votes to pass separate funding legislation for immigration-related agencies.
Attention now turns to the House of Representatives, which must decide whether to approve the partial funding measure and end the DHS shutdown. EFE
mgr-sk
