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Senate OKs Bipartisan Bill To Care For Migrants

Associated Press
Protesters gather on Capitol Hill to demand the defunding of government agencies for border protection and customs enforcement on Tuesday.

The Senate has approved bipartisan legislation providing $4.6 billion to care for thousands of migrants streaming into the U.S. across the Mexican border.

The measure resembles a package Democrats already pushed through the House with scant Republican support. The House bill has more constraints than the Senate version on how the Trump administration would use the money, leaving the next step unclear.

Congressional leaders hope to send President Donald Trump a compromise measure before lawmakers leave town for a July 4 recess.

A startling photo of the corpses of two migrants and revelations of horrid conditions for children detained by U.S. authorities have put pressure on Congress to improve migrants' conditions.

Trump spoke to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday, after Pelosi called the president to press for negotiations.

House Democrats on Tuesday night passed a measure calling for $4.5 billion in aid, the vote falling mainly along party lines. But the Republican-led Senate may balk at the House bill and instead try to force Democrats to send President Donald Trump a different measure.

A factor in the House-Senate showdown is time. Congress is moving toward a weeklong Fourth of July recess and is under pressure to pass the legislation before leaving town.

Passage of the House bill came Tuesday night after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tamped down opposition from progressives and Hispanic lawmakers concerned that the measure wasn't doing enough.