The US Senate has approved more than $70bn (£52bn) in funding for President Donald Trump’s immigration agencies.
The package would fund bodies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the remaining three years of the Trump administration. It now heads to the House of Representatives for a vote, and then if approved will go to Trump to sign.
The 52-to-47 vote fell closely along party lines, with just one Republican joining the Democrats to reject the bill in a marathon overnight session.
Democrats brought up a series of unsuccessful amendments seeking to limit Trump’s controversial $1.8bn “anti-weaponisation fund”, pushing the final vote into the early morning.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had said on Tuesday that plans for the fund were being dropped – although Trump later suggested it was not entirely dead, telling reporters he would “have to ask the lawyers”.
Much of the roughly $72bn spending package would go to ICE and Border Patrol, the agencies carrying out Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Democrats had refused to support funding earlier this year for ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) following two deadly shootings in Minnesota involving federal immigration officers, leading to the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Friday’s vote used a procedure allowing lawmakers to pass spending-related matters with a simple majority. The one Republican to vote against the bill, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, criticised its use. One Democrat did not vote.
During the 18-hour-long process known as a “vote-a-rama”, senators could propose changes to the bill – and Democrats sought to add provisions unrelated to immigration.
Many of the amendments focused on Trump’s $1.8bn fund, which would compensate those allegedly harmed by government overreach but critics condemned as a slush fund for Trump’s allies.
Earlier this week, senators had agreed to remove $1bn (£745m) in funding for Trump’s new White House ballroom from the bill.
By BBC News
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