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The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced a key $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, clearing the way for a final vote on a measure that would allow President Donald Trump to continue to enact his immigration agenda.
According to Reuters, lawmakers voted to open debate on the legislation, and a final vote was expected, possibly by Tuesday afternoon or evening. If passed, it would then head to President Trump’s desk for signing.
This comes just days after the U.S. Senate approved the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol, with only one Republican Senator (Lisa Murkowski, Alaska) voting in opposition, RSBN reported.
Republicans’ advancement on funding immigration enforcement comes after months of skirmishing with Democrats, who have unified to block funding for these key agencies.
Previously, the $70 billion funding measure ran into complications in the U.S. Senate amid debate over a so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a settlement fund initially pitched as a compensation mechanism for those who had been targeted by “weaponized” government.
The fund was sparked from a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service. The fund would have been worth nearly $1.8 billion, but it drew intense criticism from lawmakers. The anti-weaponization fund has, to this point, been scrapped, according to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Before the House vote on the immigration bill on Tuesday, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was asked about the aforementioned $1.8 billion pitched fund.
“There is no weaponization fund,” he told reporters. “As you know, that was fought back and forth, I know the president’s talked about it. It was initially part of the discussion on reconciliation 2.0 in the Senate…they chose not to put in place a weaponization fund. So, the bill we have in the House does not have any funding for [a] weaponization fund.”