Congress Squanders Another Chance to Address the Border Crisis in the FY 2024 Budget
With half of Fiscal Year 2024 already gone, Congress finally got around to approving a budget that will keep the federal government funded through September 30. With Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, there had been some hope that they would exert their power to force the Biden administration to alter its reckless border and immigration policies.
That was not to be. The budget bill that was approved in late March fell far short of what Republicans promised when it comes to addressing the raging border and illegal immigration crisis that the Biden administration has inflicted on the nation. It included no meaningful policy changes to end the border crisis. Instead, it reinforces the status quo, and continues to prioritize the mass processing and release of illegal aliens into the country over the safety and security of Americans. It essentially funds all of the Biden immigration and border policies that Republicans vowed to end.
Instead of the strong enforcement that had been promised, the FY 2024 Appropriations bill:
- Continues to fund the processing and release of millions of illegal aliens into the United States.
- Allows abuse of our asylum laws to continue unchecked.
- Bankrolls the Biden administration’s abuse of parole authority.
- Funnels $650 million taxpayer dollars to NGOs that aid and encourage mass illegal immigration.
- Provides $3.9 billion to the State Department for migration and refugee assistance.
- Adds 12,000 Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan nationals.
- Provides $470 million for Alternatives to Detention, which this administration is attempting to turn into a social services provider instead of a means to electronically monitor illegal aliens and detain those not complying.
The FY 2024 budget bill was Congress’ latest squandered opportunity to enact real border security and immigration enforcement provisions by including all, or substantial portions of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act in the spending measure. H.R. 2 was passed by the House last May, but has been stalled in the Democratic-led Senate. Since then, the Republican-led House has failed numerous times to include the bill in Continuing Resolutions that funded the government for the first half of the fiscal year, or in a foreign aid package that President Biden has requested.
Even before the FY 2024 budget was finalized, President Biden had already released his proposed $7.3 trillion budget for FY 2025, which begins on October 1. That proposal, too, offers no substantive immigration policy changes or real border enforcement measures. Instead, the president’s request continues to focus on quickly processing and releasing illegal aliens into the country, providing benefits and services to illegal aliens as they settle around the country, and more money for NGOs.
While it is disappointing that Congress failed to address the illegal immigration crisis in the FY 2024 budget bill, FAIR will continue to press for real enforcement language in the upcoming FY 2025 budget process. That debate will occur as we approach the 2024 elections, when politicians tend to pay the most attention to what is on Americans’ minds. What is on the top of Americans’ list of concerns is immigration and border policy, according to a February Gallup poll.