The House of Representatives has agreed to allocate $70 billion to combat migrants.

House Republicans on June 9 approved a $70 billion bill that provides funding for the entirety of Donald Trump's term for the agencies responsible for his tough immigration policies, writes The Guardian.

The vote brought an end to a months-long conflict with Democrats. At one point, this standoff led to the shutdown of the US Department of Homeland Security.

The Secure America Act passed by a 214-212 margin. Nearly all Republicans supported the measure, while all Democrats opposed it. Independent Congressman Kevin Kiley, who usually votes with the Republicans, also voted against it. The Senate approved the legislation a week earlier. It provides $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection, and an additional $5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, funding it through September 2029. The bill now heads to Trump for his signature.

On the subject: The Trump administration will revoke US citizenship from 17 people: this is the second wave of denaturalizations in a month.

"With today's vote, Republicans in the House and Senate finally ended the third Democratic shutdown of this Congress," said House Speaker Mike Johnson.

"All the Democrats achieved with their blockade was to remind Americans of their support for open borders and policies that allow undocumented criminal immigrants to remain in American communities. Voters have repeatedly rejected these approaches. We hope this serves as a reminder to Democrats that attempts to shut down the government will not yield any benefits," he added.

The law lifts the funding freeze imposed by Democrats in January following the shooting death of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis during a large-scale operation targeting undocumented immigrants. The Democrats' boycott and their unsuccessful efforts to change federal immigration policy blocked the passage of a budget for the entire Department of Homeland Security, leading to a 75-day shutdown beginning in mid-February.

The department reopened in late April after Democrats agreed to support legislation funding all its operations, with the exception of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Republicans subsequently passed a separate resolution funding these two agencies for the duration of Trump's presidency, explaining that this was necessary to prevent the possibility of another shutdown.

House Democrats unanimously opposed the legislation. Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated that the measure "would waste $70 billion in taxpayer money by giving ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] essentially a blank check with no restrictions, oversight, or accountability."

Republicans responded by accusing Democrats of trying to "defund the police" and open the borders to illegal immigration.

"Make no mistake: a vote 'yes' is a vote for border security and for law enforcement funding," assured Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise. "A vote 'no' is a vote to defund the police. These are the people who risk their lives to protect our communities."

The passage of the law was a significant success for Johnson, who is working with an extremely fragile Republican majority, and for Trump. During the debate on the bill, the idea of ​​creating a nearly $1,8 billion fund for payments to his allies as part of an initiative to combat so-called political persecution was actively discussed.

Shortly before the vote, Republicans rejected a Democratic attempt to include a provision in the bill prohibiting the state from compensating those convicted of assaulting police officers during the events of January 6th. During the Senate's consideration of the bill last week, a small group of Republicans attempted to broker a compromise to exclude the "anti-weaponization" fund, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

However, this initiative remains a source of debate among Republicans in Congress, despite Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch telling the House of Representatives last week that they had abandoned the idea. In an interview aired on June 7, Trump again did not directly rule out the possibility of creating such a fund.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

Progress on the bill was slowed by controversy surrounding an attempt to include $1 billion for security measures related to Trump's proposed White House ballroom construction. Senate Republicans ultimately agreed to exclude this spending item after the Senate's legislative arbitrator ruled that such spending could not be included if the bill was passed under the expedited budget process, which allows it to bypass Democratic blockades.

Read also on ForumDaily:

A court has barred Trump from charging a $100 fee for an H-1B work visa.

A court has ordered the Trump administration to resume hearing asylum and immigration cases.

ICE wants to buy immigrant data from social media and advertising companies: what are the risks?

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.