Seeking unity, Pelosi calls for bill to protect migrant kids

Lawmakers must pass legislation easing "abhorrent conditions" facing children held at the southern border, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday as she tried taking the offensive on an issue that badly split Democrats and has raised questions about their unity on other issues.

Pelosi, D-Calif., tried rallying Democrats against a common foe Republicans led by President Donald Trump less than two weeks after a USD 4.6 billion border bill drove a bitter rift into her party.

Although the measure passed Congress easily and became law, many House progressives and Hispanics voted "no" because they said the measure lacked real controls on how the government must handle children, while the party's moderates and senators said the measure was the best compromise they could craft with the GOP-run Senate.

In a letter to colleagues returning from an 11-day Fourth of July recess, Pelosi said Democrats must lead "a Battle Cry across America to protect the children."
Citing another fight over blocking a citizenship question Trump wants added to the 2020 census, Pelosi said, "In both the case of the Census and the abhorrent conditions for children and families at the border, we must hold the Trump Administration and the GOP accountable."