Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) joined three House Democrats in voting against a bill Tuesday evening that would provide $4.5 billion in emergency border funding, some of it for humanitarian relief.
According to NPR, the House bill “seeks to establish protocols to meet standards of care for migrants held in temporary emergency shelters, including food, water hygiene and basic medical care.”
“And the legislation places caps on how long unaccompanied migrant children can stay in those facilities and places standards of care on government contractors operating detention facilities,” the outlet adds.
In an exclusive interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump said was he “not happy” with the bill “because there’s no money for protection.”
“It’s like we’re running hospitals over there,” he added.
The Hill reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) urged Democrats to support the bill during a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday afternoon.
“Understand what we’re up against in the White House. The president would love for this bill to go down today,” Pelosi said, according to a Democratic aide who spoke with The Hill.
“A vote against this bill is a vote for Donald Trump and his inhumane, outside-the-circle of civilized attitude toward the children,” she added.
But Omar joined Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) in voting against the bill.
Omar said the bill would “fund Trump’s deportation squads” in a statement released prior to the vote.
Children are dying at the hands of our own government.
If this were any other country, we would rightfully be calling this an atrocity and demanding accountability from the international community.
That is why I plan to vote NO on the bill to fund Trump's deportation squads. pic.twitter.com/izsqW9eQY2
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 26, 2019
“Throwing more money at the very organizations committing human rights abuses—and the very administration directing these human rights abuses—is not a solution,” she said. “This is a humanitarian crisis—a humanitarian crisis inflicted by our own leadership. It’s also a refugee crisis fueled by state violence, corruption, and impunity in the Northern Triangle—one that this administration has only fueled through mass deportation and slashing aid.”
Omar said she would instead like to engage international aid organizations, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to “assist in the delivery of aid to displaced persons and address this humanitarian crisis.”
“If this were any other country, we would rightfully be calling this an atrocity and demanding accountability from the international community,” she concluded.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
