Trump signs humanitarian aid package for migrants

(1 Jul 2019) President Donald Trump has signed a $4.6 billion aid package to help the federal government cope with the surge of Central American immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Many Democratic lawmakers were hoping for more. They wanted stronger protections for how migrants are treated at holding facilities and to make it easier for lawmakers to make snap visits.

The White House had threatened to veto the legislation on grounds that it would hamstring border security efforts. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to accept the Republican-controlled Senate's version of the aid package, frustrating the more liberal members of her caucus.

The bill bolsters care for tens of thousands of arrivals taken into custody monthly and sets guidelines for how the Trump administration must handle them.

Trump says he has asked about delaying the 2020 census over a citizenship question, but experts say any delay could gum up the U.S. Census Bureau's finely calibrated timetable for the 10-year count.

Monday was the deadline to start printing the 600 million documents that will be mailed to 130 million households for next April's census count.

And President Trump says military tanks will be part of Washington's Fourth of July celebration later this week.

Asked Monday about his plans, Trump said tanks will be stationed outside but provided no other details.

Trump had wanted a parade of military tanks and other equipment in Washington after witnessing a similar parade in Paris in 2017. But that plan eventually was scuttled, partly because of cost.

This year, the president is organizing an event called "Salute to America" that the administration says will honor the U.S. military.

Trump plans to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday. The event will include music, military demonstrations and flyovers.

The annual fireworks display will go off closer to the Lincoln Memorial than the Washington Monument.



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AP Archive,apus119686,245ec77c69910af3cc2290bcf7d13f4e,US Trump Border Aid Bill (Lon NR),Nancy Pelosi,Donald Trump,Mexico,Central America,Latin America and Caribbean,United States,District of Columbia,Government and politics,United States Census,Social affairs,