The 4,155-page spending bill includes $858bn for military spending and $45bn in additional assistance for Ukraine.The United States Senate has passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill that includes hundreds of billions of dollars for military spending but fails to include a bill seen as crucial for Afghan refugees stuck in legal limbo.
The Senate passed the enormous 4,155-page bill with bipartisan support on Thursday, with a vote of 68 to 29. The bill, which provides funding to the US government through September 30, must now pass the House of Representatives on Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown.The bill budgets about $858bn for military spending, $772.5bn for various domestic programmes and $45bn for another round of military and economic aid for Ukraine.
“This is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a very long time,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday. “The range of people it helps is large and deep.”
Immigrant rights and Afghan-US advocacy groups, however, have pointed out the bill fails to include a provision that would have offered a legal pathway for tens of thousands of Afghan refugees who arrived in the US following the collapse of the US-backed government in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Many were brought to the US through a programme known as “humanitarian parole”, which enabled them to quickly enter the country and shielded them from deportation for a two-year period. But that two-year window is set to expire next summer.
– Al Jazeera