US Congress approves USD 4.6 billion in emergency border funding

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday bowed to pressure from President Donald Trump's Republicans as Congress approved USD 4.6 billion in emergency aid to ease a swelling migrant crisis on the nation's southern border. One day after the Senate passed the measure, the House of Representatives followed suit with a bipartisan vote of 305 to 102 that sends the bill to the president's desk.

Pelosi and Democrats had wanted additional language that would ensure better protections of migrant children but conceded to Republicans when they failed to move the needle. "At the end of the day, we have to make sure that the resources needed to protect the children are available," Pelosi told Democrats before the vote.