The White House is insisting that Congress approve its $4.5 billion request as soon as possible, warning that some agencies could run out of money within a month. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images congress Trump squeezes Dems with border demands House Democrats are struggling with a White House request for billions of dollars to address the surge of migrants.

Donald Trump has Democrats in a nearly impossible position on the border.

To deal with a surge of migrants crossing into the United States, the White House is asking Congress for billions of dollars in emergency funds. But House Democrats are in no mood to simply hand over the cash after condemning Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies over the past two years.


They also don’t want to ignore a mounting humanitarian crisis.

“So you create chaos, and then ask for more money?” Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said of the White House’s approach.

Still, Democrats are struggling with exactly how to confront the deteriorating situation at the southern border — particularly without legitimizing Trump’s harsh immigration stances or bolstering his argument for a massive border wall, which they’re trying to block in court.

Progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are taking a hard line against Trump’s request, saying in an interview that “this administration has not proven itself worthy of one more dollar” until all families have been reunited. More moderate Democrats argue some funding is needed to assist the thousands of Central American migrants seeking asylum.

The result is likely to be a weeks-long battle within the Democratic Caucus that will expose deep splits on immigration and complicate Washington’s next big funding fight. And with Trump gearing up for his reelection campaign, the issue is only going to get hotter.

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The White House has insisted it needs more money for food, water and medical care to ensure humane treatment for migrants held at U.S. facilities along the border.

But Democrats say the Department of Homeland Security’s own policies have undermined their faith, especially as officials have quietly continued separating some families at the border.

“I wouldn’t support any request for funding at this time,” said Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.). “I’m not prepared to go there. Can’t trust them.”

Democratic leaders are acutely aware of the optics. They are loath to be seen in any way as validating Trump’s long-running declaration that there is a security crisis at the border.

And along with feeding into the president’s narrative, the move could undercut Democrats’ legal effort to halt Trump’s national emergency declaration, which he’s using to try to divert funds from other parts of the government toward his border wall.

But Democrats say they are horrified by the humanitarian disaster unfolding at the border and recognize that some sort of action is needed.

“Not that we’re trying to validate or not validate [Trump’s claims], there are a lot of people there at the border,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, a moderate Democrat who represents a district on the Texas-Mexico border.

“I don’t call it a security crisis, I call it a humanitarian crisis,” he added. “So the question is how do we get to address that?”

Administration officials have reported a growing sense of desperation. The White House’s letter to Congress this week warned that the situation is “unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”

One of the most worrying trends, according to border officials, is the uptick in unaccompanied children. That figure increased nearly 50 percent so far this year, compared to the same time period last year.

And last week, a third child was confirmed to have died in U.S. custody since December.

The lack of a unified response from House Democrats was on full display at the caucus’ annual retreat in mid-April.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats faced multiple questions from reporters about the surge in migrants and largely sidestepped them, instead endorsing comprehensive immigration reform and underscoring that Congress had already approved key Homeland Security funding in the deal to end the shutdown earlier this year.

But comprehensive immigration reform isn’t going anywhere. Democrats have no immediate plans to bring such a bill to the House floor, and even if passed by the House, it would run into a wall in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Pelosi demurred late last week when asked whether she was supportive of Trump’s supplemental request, instead saying it was up to congressional appropriators to reach an agreement.

“The committee will decide what they want to put forward,” Pelosi told POLITICO. “As I always say, left to their devices, the bipartisan cooperation on the Appropriations Committee will take us to a path.”

The White House is insisting that Congress approve its $4.5 billion request as soon as possible, warning that some agencies — like the Office of Refugee and Resettlement, which has handled the fallout of the family separations policy — could run out of money within a month.

Democrats are skeptical.

“They clearly have the will and the desire to dig into every couch cushion,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to Trump’s attempts to shuffle money to fund the border wall. “If they want to starve the refugee office, that’s not Congress’ fault.”

Democrats on the House spending panel have suggested they are willing to approve some humanitarian aid, though they are skeptical of approving requests for more ICE detention beds, which they say could be used to expand family detention.

Any money that's approved, many lawmakers also say, should only be provided under certain conditions.

“The frustrating thing is they’re diverting money all over the place and now they want Congress to buy in on Homeland Security changes and policy changes?” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said in an interview. “It’s ridiculous.”