House Republicans voted Friday to end an Obama program that allows for discretion in deporting undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children, and also approved a budget bill that would make it easier to send migrant children from Central America back home.
The bill was one of two passed by the House Friday that has been called symbolic and will likely reach the Senate, where members have already left for summer recess. The House first approved a $694 million spending bill to address the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border by sending migrant youths back home without hearings, and then voted to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
The legislation to block deferrals on deportations passed 216-192, and could put more than 700,000 immigrants who've received temporary work permits in line for deportation.
President Barack Obama said of the legislation: "They're not even trying to solve the problem," the president said. "I'm going to have to act alone, because we do not have enough resources."
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the bills would “secure our border and ensure the safe and swift return of these children to their home countries.”
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