Fresh shutdown AVERTED: US lawmakers 'AGREE' deal to end border wall funding row

The deal will reportedly fund the government through the autumn, resolve immigration disputes and stop a partial government shutdown expected to start on Saturday. It demands for $1.3billion (£1billion) for border barriers which will include 55 new miles of bollard fencing with restrictions on location. The emerging agreement was announced by a group of lawmakers, including Republican Senator Richard Shelby and Democratic-Republican Nita Lowey, after a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.

Mr Shelby emerged from the meeting and said all outstanding issues had been resolved, according to BBC reports.

However, the group needs the signature of President Donald Trump by midnight (PST) on Friday to fund several federal departments.

Mr Trump previously sought $5.7billion (£4.4billion) for a wall along the US-Mexico border which the Democrats furiously opposed. 

The Democrats reportedly backed down from their cap on the number of detention beds Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could use to detain undocumented immigrants. 

Democrats wanted to limit the number of beds to 16,500 where ICE place people it arrests who have overstayed their visas or committed misdemeanour crimes.

The Trump administration said last month that it wanted $4.2billion (£3.2billion) for 52,000 beds as the number of people illegally crossing the border has dramatically risen to 2,000 a day.

Representative Lucille Royal-Allard said on Twitter: “A cap on ICE detention beds will force the Trump administration to prioritise deportation for criminals and people who pose real security threats, not law-abiding immigrants who are contributing to our country.”

Talks had stalled due to undocumented immigrants and the funding for the border wall.

The previous shutdown which lasted for 35 days ended in January this year and was longest in US history.

It ended up freezing the paychecks of 800,000 federal workers.

Ms Lowey, who hopes negotiators will have a finished product by Wednesday, told the Washington Post: “Some may be happy, some may not be happy.”

The White House and congressional leaders stalled talks for months due to major differences between the Democrats and Republicans over immigration policy.

However, the amount of money demanded for border control was softened by the White House which hopes to redirect existing funds into the project.

source: express.co.uk