Senator Lankford Supports Bipartisan Senate Supplemental Humanitarian Aid Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today voted to support the Senate’s bipartisan supplemental humanitarian aid bill to provide additional necessary funds to the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense, and Justice to address the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. The bill passed the Senate in a vote of 84-8.  

Earlier today, Lankford expressed great frustration over partisan bickering that has resulted in delaying essential border sources in a Homeland Security Committee hearing on the ongoing needs at our southern border. Lankford pointed out how hypocritical and needlessly obstructionist this fight has become as Democrats are decrying to the media and constituencies that President Trump is not solving the problems at our southern border while simultaneously delaying the humanitarian aid for two months. The Administration made the initial request for supplemental funding on May 1, 2019.

“Today’s bipartisan bill in the Senate addresses the needs of children and families at our southern border, as opposed to the House’s very partisan bill that further restricts DHS and HHS from processing individuals and families and caring for children,” said Lankford. “Our bill is not trying to score political points; it’s trying to manage the humanitarian crisis. The Senate version that passed today fully funds HHS’ request for migrant facilities, which ensures that the children in US custody will receive all the care, hygiene products, and services they need. The bill provides relief to DHS so it can better address the needs of migrants at our southern border facilities. The House should immediately take up our bipartisan bill to ensure we immediately meet the basic needs of the thousands of migrants in US custody. In the days ahead, we need to finally close the legal loopholes in our immigration process that are being exploited by migrants and specifically human smugglers. We will never stop the flow of minors and families crossing the border illegally until we fix the glaring gaps in our immigration law that require we release all minors and their families into the country for years until their court date. Democrats refuse to address the same issue that President Obama struggled to solve, the legal loopholes in our immigration law.”

 DHS is responsible for migrant individuals and families and the facilities to house them at the southern border. HHS is responsible for the care and security of unaccompanied alien children (known as UACs) after they are transferred to a separate facility due to the Flores settlement’s requirement that children cannot remain in DHS custody longer than 20 days.

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