Rep. Chip Roy Steps Up Demands for Border Security Funding Sought by Trump

WASHINGTON -- Austin Rep. Chip Roy, who has drawn attention lately for derailing a huge disaster relief bill and keeping the House in session until 4 a.m., joined with other House conservatives on Tuesday pushing for $4.5 billion the White House seeks for extra border security.President Donald Trump in May asked for the emergency funding to address the surge of Central American migrants along the southern border. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported 440,000 apprehensions at the border from January to the end of May -- nearly equal to the total for all of 2018.The package includes nothing for Trump’s border wall. But it does call for three new 500-bed “soft-sided migrant processing facilities” -- two in Texas, one in Arizona -- and critics denounce the bid to expand tent city detention camps.The request includes $3.4 billion for humanitarian assistance that is somewhat less contentious, plus $1.1 billion for border operations.“Until we have addressed the border crisis legitimately, Congress should not be conducting business as usual,” Roy said at a news conference at the Capitol. “Congress should not be on autopilot while the American citizens and migrants, who seek to come here, are being harmed.”Roy was elected in November, replacing San Antonio Republican Lamar Smith, another immigration hard liner. As a freshman who won with just 50.2% of the vote, Democrats have targeted him in 2020.Since taking office in January, Roy has made immigration and border security top priorities.In February, he called it a “sham” when Trump agreed to avert a second government shutdown even though Congress had refused to give him the wall funds he’d demanded.Last Wednesday in an effort to draw attention to the border issue, Roy stalled the House’s consideration of $1 trillion in federal spending by requiring debate and a roll call vote on each of more than 100 amendments. That kept the House in session until 4 a.m. the next day, a move that did not sit well with lawmakers in both parties.Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, called the stunt “worthless” and said that he did not “see any positive outcome to Mr. Roy’s stunt.”  Continue reading...