The White House Requests Over $4 Billion For More Beds At The Border

Previous requests for emergency border funding included money for a wall, but this time, the money is intended to increase shelter beds for unaccompanied minors, and beds at immigrant detention facilities.

By Jill AmentMay 2, 2019 1:49 pm,

The White House is urging Congress to approve a more than $4 billion request for emergency border funding. But this request is different from previous ones.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs is the homeland security correspondent for The New York Times. He says none of this money is meant to go toward building a border wall like in previous requests. Instead, it will go toward more beds for unaccompanied minors staying in shelters, more beds for those in immigrant detention, plus facilities for Border Patrol and immigration officials.

“So we’re talking about adding resources to facilities … but not a barrier along the wall,” Kanno-Youngs says.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– How the growing number of migrant families is driving the request for emergency funding

– How the Trump administration’s asylum policies are complicating issues at the border

– Why the availability of more beds could expand the government’s ability to detain more people

Written by Caroline Covington.