House fails to pass bill to address border crisis

In an embarrassing defeat for the leadership of the Republican Party, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives failed to pass a bill that would have sent billions of dollars and thousands of Border Patrol officers to the Mexican border.

The basis of the bill was a $4 billion dollar request from President Barack Obama to hire more officers, lawyers and judges to deal with and resolve the crisis of unaccompanied children at the border.

More than 50,000 children have arrived at the U.S. border since October 2013. The issue has grown so severe that Texas Governor Rick Perry has even deployed 1,000 troops with the National Guard.

The $4 billion would have also included funds for establishing shelters and providing medical care for those who have arrived at the border.

The Washington Post reports many Republicans at first balked at the cost of the program, which led to a Senate version of the bill that would have cost $2.7 billion. The House, which is far more conservative, wanted to pass a bill that would only authorize $659 million in spending to cope with the crisis.

Even the modest figure of $659 million could not get the support of the Republican's Tea Party wing. The Post reports that this is because they wanted a vote on the Deferred Action on Child Arrivals program to be a part of the funding package.

The DACA program provided legal protection to around 500,000 people who were brought to this country as young children. Without a measure that would have ended or reduced the scope of this program, the representatives aligned with the Tea Party would not throw their weight behind the spending bill.

The issue may come back to haunt some representatives who talk tough on immigration, while also refusing to provide the government the resources it needs to cope with the crisis.