After having a few days to look at President Obama’s $3.7 billion border-spending request, congressional Republicans are now skeptical, saying the White House is trying to throw money at the problem of illegal immigrant children rather than fixing the policies that are leading to it.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the surge of children at the border is “getting worse by the day” and that Mr. Obama has yet to propose a real solution beyond money.
“He needs to work with us to get the right policy into effect — not just throw money at the problem,” the Kentucky Republican said.
On Wednesday Mr. Obama, before attending a fundraiser in Dallas, hundreds of miles from the border, said now that he’s sent his spending request to Congress, it’s up to lawmakers to solve the border issue by passing the legislation.
“This should not be hard to at least get the supplemental done. The question is are we more interested in politics or are we more interested in solving the problem?” he said.
But Mr. McConnell said the president has failed to propose changes to a 2008 law that requires illegal immigrant children from countries not contiguous to the U.S. to be processed and sent through lengthy court proceedings, which allows them to be released into the U.S. for a period of time.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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