US Senate approves $70b for Trump immigration crackdown

WASHINGTON, Jun 5: The US Senate on Friday approved $70 billion in funding for Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown, but only after a long day of votes on multiple amendments that highlighted Republican infighting over some of the president's other contentious policy proposals.

The bill would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through the rest of Trump's term, handing the Republican leader a major victory on one of his signature issues after months of bitter fighting over the future of immigration enforcement.

It now heads to the House of Representatives, where Republican leaders hope to move it early next week to send it to Trump's desk.

The package follows a record partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier this year, when Democrats refused to support new money for immigration enforcement without restrictions on tactics such as raids in sensitive locations and the use of masks by officers.    �"AFP