A disturbing photo showing two migrants who drowned traveling to the US sparked a day of reaction and debate in Washington and around the country.
Our live coverage is ending, but here’s what you need to know:
The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday passed a $4.6 billion bill to address the migrant crisis at the southern border. The Senate vote was 84 - 8.
What this means: The vote now sets up a clash with House Democrats, who have passed a different version of similar legislation.
So what happens now? The House and Senate must now decide on how to reconcile their differences on the two separate bills
Former vice president and current 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden called the photo of a Salvadoran father and his daughter lying face down in the water of the Rio Grande “gut-wrenching.”
“The cruelty we’re seeing at our border is unconscionable. History will judge how we respond to the Trump Administration’s treatment of immigrant families & children—we can’t be silent,” he tweeted.
Read more:
The father and daughter who drowned left El Salvador with family on April 3rd seeking better life in Dallas, Texas, according to family members.
On Sunday they arrived at the border: Salvadoran migrants Oscar Alberto Martinez, his wife Tania Avalos, their almost 2-years-old daughter Angie Valeria Martinez and a cousin arrived to the bordering city of Matamoros in northeastern Mexico Sunday morning, according to Enrique Maciel Cervantes, Director of the Tamaulipas Institute for Migrants.
Cervantes explained that on the same day of their arrival, the family voluntarily headed to the “New International Bridge” seeking information. They were told to visit the National Institute of Migration and to request an appointment-interview-number to petition for a humanitarian aid visa to the United States.
According to Tania Avalos, the family left the National Institute of Migration, went for lunch and “once walking on the edge of the Rio Grande, they decided to cross-over to the United States, unluckily,” Cervantes said.
The mother of Oscar Alberto Martinez, Rosa Ramirez, confirmed that her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter left the country on April 3 in hopes to make it to Dallas, Texas to work. The family stayed in Mexico with a permit from the Mexican authorities.
Mrs. Ramirez explained that her family wanted to buy their own house and better their financial situation.
Ramirez said her son used to work as a cook in a pizzeria and that he was a good man that always tried to help his family out, she told CNN’s affiliate Canal 33. Ramirez said the last time she talked to her son was on Friday and he said everything was going well.
In the first series of votes on border funding, the Senate voted down the House-passed bill.
The bill failed in the senate 37-55.
After the vote, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer spoke briefly on the floor and said he and most Democrats will vote for the bipartisan Senate compromise bill — which is expected to be voted on in a few minutes.
He also advocated for a conference committee with the House to merge the two chambers’ bills, something GOP leaders say they don’t want to do.
President Trump was just asked about a shocking picture taken at the US-Mexico border, which shows an immigrant father and his daughter drowned in the Rio Grande.
“I hate it,” the President said.
“That father, who probably was this wonderful guy, with his daughter, things like this wouldn’t happen,” he said, before going on to blame the Democrats for “their asylum policy.”
The President called the trip to the United States “a very dangerous journey, a very, very dangerous journey,” and said “the asylum policy of the Democrats is responsible because they will not change the policy.”
Trump once again claimed that the Democrats want open borders — which is not something the mainstream Democratic party is advocating for — and said that “open borders mean people drowning in the rivers.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said firmly “no” when we asked if there’s any chance she will just take up the $4.6-billion Senate’s border funding bill and simply pass it.
She confirmed she spoke with Trump and asked for further negotiations. “That’s what we asked for.”
President Trump said he just spoke to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi about the border aid bill that passed last night and said he believes she wants to “get something done.”
Remember: The White House has already signaled that Trump would veto such a bill if it reached his desk, arguing that the legislation “contains a number of problematic policy provisions that would hinder the administration’s efforts to enforce our immigration laws and protect children.”
“I just spoke with Nancy Pelosi and we had a good conversation, having to do with the bill, humanitarian aid at the border for the children, mostly.” Trump said today. “And we are moving along very well with a bipartisan bill in the Senate.”
He continued: “I think that Nancy wants to get something done. And the Senate and the House will get together. I think they’ll be able to do something very good.”
What’s in the bill: The Democratic-led House approved $4.5 billion in aid for the growing crisis at the US southern border. Meanwhile, the Senate has a bipartisan bill that would allocate $4.59 billion for the border crisis — but that proposal has significant differences with the House bill, adding to the uncertainty over whether a deal can be reached.
Bernie Sanders’ campaign is reacting to the drowned Salvadoran father and daughter photograph. The statement said the photo is “horrific” and called for an overhaul of the US immigration system.
Read more of the statement:
Mitch McConnell announced the Senate will vote on a border funding bill Wednesday afternoon.
The Senate’s version of a $4.6 billion border supplemental bill is aimed at addressing the migrant crisis at the Southern border.
There are some amendments in the House bill that aren’t included in the Senate’s proposal yet. This includes stronger requirements for the care of unaccompanied minor children, translation services, time limits for how long immigrant children can be detained and resources that would help migrants navigate the court system.
But, Senate Republican leaders don’t intend to negotiate with House Democrats over differences between the two bills because it would “delay” getting needed funds to the border, Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking GOP leader told reporters Wednesday.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor this morning about the border funding bill.
As he spoke, he stood next to a large copy of the photo of a Salvadoran father and his daughter lying facedown in the waters of the Rio Grande.
About the bill: The House Senate are working to come to an agreement on a bill that would provide aid for the growing crisis at the US southern border.
The House voted Tuesday to approve $4.5 billion in aid — but the White House has already said it “strongly opposes” that legislation. It is not clear whether the House and Senate will be able to reach an agreement the President will sign off on.
The UN Refugee Agency is calling for action after seeing the image of a drowned father and child on the banks of the Rio Grande.
UNHCR said in a statement that it is “deeply shocked to see the heartbreaking photo” and that the event needs to propel prevention measures.
Here’s what else the UNHCR said:
UNHCR called on “all countries in the region to take immediate and coordinated steps” to prevent this from happening again. According to the release, they also offered ways to strengthen processing of asylum-seekers in the United States and improve conditions in detention centers.
When asked if the border bill will pass before lawmakers leave for Fourth of July recess, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was confident.
“Yeah, we’re going to pass it this week,” he said.
He acknowledged it “will require some cooperation” from Democrats “but we hope to get it,” he said in a brief interview in the Capitol.
A few minutes earlier on the Senate floor, he blamed House Democrats for being “consistently uncooperative” on this issue and said the Senate bill is a “productive compromise” that will “go a long way to begin addressing the border compromise.”
Here’s what McConnell said in his floor speech:
He added: “No poison pills; just a clean bill to provide the emergency appropriations the White House requested two months ago. We have waited long enough to act. We should not wait any longer. We must pass this measure this week.”
The House and Senate are working to come to an agreement on a bill that would provide aid for the growing crisis at the US southern border.
The House voted Tuesday to approve $4.5 billion in aid, but the White House has already said it “strongly opposes” the legislation and it is not clear whether the House and Senate will be able to reach an agreement the President will sign off on.
Here’s are some ways the House bill is different than the Senate’s proposal:
Some changes were added to the House bill Tuesday night, but aren’t include in the Senate bill. Here are some of the main amendments:
Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson appeared to choke up when referring to the photo of a father and child lying face down on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.
Johnson said he almost canceled a hearing this morning to instead have a discussion on the issue.
“I hope that picture alone will catalyze this Congress, this Senate, this Committee, to do something,” he said.
Some 2020 presidential candidates are reacting to the disturbing photo of a man and a child who drowned trying to migrate to the United States.
Immigration has been a hot topic of debate on the campaign trail, and many of the 2020 Democrats are appearing in the first primary debates Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Cory Booker:
Kamala Harris:
Beto O’Rourke:
Tim Ryan:
Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg reacted on MSNBC Wednesday morning:
The Democrat-led House last night approved $4.5 billion in aid for the growing crisis at the US southern border
President Trump this morning expressed his displeasure with the aid bill.
“I’m not happy with it because there’s no money for protection, it’s like we’re running hospitals over there,” Trump said in an interview that just aired on Fox Business News.
The White House has already threatened to veto the bill.
What happens next: The Senate has a bipartisan bill that would allocate $4.59 billion for the border crisis and advanced out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 30-1 vote last week. But the proposal has significant differences with the House bill, adding to the uncertainty over whether a deal can be reached.
The deaths of a Salvadorian father and his daughter promoted Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexandra Hill to beg citizens to stay in the country and work with the government as it tries to resolve the economic issues that push so many to leave.
Hill said the government is working with Mexican authorities to repatriate the remains.
El Salvador’s newly elected President Nayib Bukele said the government would help the family financially.
Oscar Alberto Martinez and his daughter — identified by officials from El Salvador as Angie Valeria M. — drowned in the currents of the Rio Grande on Sunday as they tried to slip into the United States.
Their bodies were found Monday near Matamoros, across the river from Brownsville, Texas. The child was 2 years old, The Associated Press reported.
The photograph was taken by journalist Julia Le Duc, who lives in Mexico.
In the image, the young girl is tucked inside her father’s shirt, her right arm slung around his neck as they lie near the shore. Their bodies have come to rest near a river bank where five discarded beer cans and an empty soda bottle sit in the tall reeds. Another beer can floats next to the girl’s body.
Mexican newspaper, La Jornada talked to the man’s wife, Tania, who said she saw her husband and child drown Sunday.
