Good chance of action on supplemental before recess, McCaul says

There’s a “good” chance House Republicans will move on an emergency supplemental to address the crisis at the border before the August recess, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Sunday.

{mosads}But GOP lawmakers will only support a “more targeted approach” than that requested by President Obama in his $3.7 billion proposal unveiled last week.

In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” McCaul proposed limiting the emergency supplemental spending to just the remainder of the fiscal year. He also said he did not support spending on facilities in the U.S. for the Department of Homeland Security to house the tens of thousands of migrant children crossing the border.

“I think we have to deal with this in a humane, compassionate way, but I’m not in favor of building large warehouses in the United States to warehouse these kids,” McCaul said.

Instead, he suggested constructing facilities back in the children’s native countries in Central America.

Obama’s supplemental includes $1.8 billion for the Health and Human Services Department to be able to house the children while they are awaiting immigration court hearings, and $300 million for the State Department to improve economic and security conditions in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the home countries of the majority of the children.

But McCaul was optimistic that lawmakers would move on some sort of package in the coming weeks.

“I think we have to act soon. It’s a crisis at hand that demands action, a call for action. It’s a very tragic human crisis at the border, none like I’ve ever seen before. So I think we need to act before the August recess,” he said.

He also said Republicans were examining other ways to address the crisis, including amending a 2008 law that allows children from countries other than Mexico the ability to automatically enter into a lengthy asylum process.

“We have to have a message of deterrence,” McCaul said.