Congress Signs Off On Border Relief Bill

This week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune

By Rhonda FanningJune 28, 2019 2:05 pm,

The U.S. House and Senate each passed border relief bills this week. Together, the bills amounted to about $4.5 billion. The money is intended to alleviate poor conditions in facilities where migrant children are detained after crossing the border into the U.S. Ramshaw says it appeared there wouldn’t be an agreement on the bills, but the Senate signed onto the House bill and it’s now headed to President Donald Trump’s desk. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted tough controls on how the money would be spent, but instead got a handshake agreement. Ramshaw says the relief includes food, water, blankets, diapers, and legal services for migrant children. 

Former House Speaker and San Antonio Rep. Joe Straus launched a political action committee the week, called Texas Forever Forward. Straus used $2.5 million from his campaign account to create the committee. Organizers are focusing on fiscally-conservative positions. 

“This PAC does leave the door open for him to run for state office as early as 2022,” Ramshaw says. 

Friday, the Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments challenging the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program. Ramshaw says Trump is aiming to end the Obama-era program, but the announcement will likely not lead to a Congressional fix for DACA, Ramshaw says.

“[Texas members of Congress] are obviously divided on it but this is an issue where you tend to see more agreements on the right and the left particularly because so many of these young people are in Texas,” Ramshaw says.