Illegal Border Crossings Today:

Congress Releases New Appropriations Bill, Reinforces Biden’s Open-Borders Policies

U.S. Capitol

This morning, Congressional leaders released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 spending bill, nearly six months into the fiscal year.  Until this point, government agencies have been funded through “continuing resolutions” (also called CRs), which held government funding in place, since the last appropriations bill passed Congress in December 2022.  With the new appropriations bill now public, Congressional leaders are rushing the legislation to the floor of both chambers in order to pass it before government funding expires at midnight Friday.

The new appropriations bill provides $1.2 trillion in funding for multiple departments within the government. These include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and State Department, all of which are responsible for implementing our immigration laws.  Unfortunately, while the bill gives money to these departments, it does not mandate policy changes that would secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws.  In fact, it reinforces Biden Administration policies allowing the mass processing and release of illegal aliens into the country.

Supporters of the bill will point out that it includes funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents and 41,500 detention beds, an increase from 34,000.  However, without policy changes, the Border Patrol agents will likely be used to process and release illegal migrants and the detention beds will be left empty. Indeed, that outcome is almost guaranteed as the bill does nothing to end the administration’s catch-and-release policies, and there are no provisions to stop the abuse of asylum and parole laws. This means business as usual at the border.

Moreover, some of the largest line items in the bill effectively subsidize illegal immigration and support illegal aliens once they are here. The bill provides $3.9 billion to the State Department to support foreign countries with migration and refugee assistance.  It also allocates $650 million to the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), operated under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to provide grants to NGOs and sanctuary jurisdictions which facilitate illegal immigration. Another $117 million would be provided to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) within FEMA, which in the past has been abused to provide the same type of grants for shelter and services for illegal aliens.

The new appropriations bill would also provide $470 million to the Alternatives to Detention (ATD), within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Under the Biden Administration, ATD has been used to provide taxpayer dollars in social services for illegal aliens instead of electronically monitoring or detaining them. The Biden Administration and its “abolish ICE” allies have been working to eliminate detention altogether and instead rely on ATD (essentially composed of virtual check-ins and ankle bracelets) to allow illegal aliens to freely move about the United States.

Other harmful provisions in the appropriations bill include:

  • $160 million for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process asylum applications and work authorizations;
  • $15 million for the Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP) to aid illegal aliens facing deportation;
  • $10 million for the Citizenship and Integration Grant program, which has been routinely awarded to organizations involved in active litigation against DHS;
  • Provides 2 years upfront funding for the Office of Detention Ombudsman; and
  • 12,000 additional special immigrant visas (SIVs) for Afghan nationals without vetting improvements.

The package has led to sharp disagreement in recent days.  Earlier this week, a group of 43 House Republicans led by Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) released a letter calling for strong border security measures to be included.  In that letter they noted, “At some point, border security has to be more than something aspirational that we simply message on. Is there a point at which we will refuse to let this happen on our watch, or is there no threshold of harm to our nation for which we would refuse to fund the government perpetrating the invasion?”

Some of these Republicans are no doubt frustrated because Congress has had multiple opportunities to step in and end the Biden Border Crisis, but has failed to act. Nearly a year ago, the House passed the FAIR-supported H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, but the Senate has refused to take it up. In addition, Congress has passed four short-term spending bills (continuing resolutions), and considered a foreign aid package, all without including any of the critical policy changes from H.R. 2.  Now, Congress is providing funding to the agencies responsible for enforcing our immigration laws without ending the policies have that created the worst border crisis in history.

Facing a potential government shutdown on Friday, Congress is poised to move quickly. The House is expected to vote on the package this Friday, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promising to then take it up quickly. Some Republicans, such as Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), have called the tight turnaround unreasonable and asked for a short-term continuing resolution to provide more time to review and debate the 1,012-page bill, which was drafted and finalized in secret. According to Lee, the bill is being pushed “with lightning speed, so that Americans don’t see what’s in it.”

Perhaps most notable, though, is what the appropriations package does not include.  Rather than relying on the comprehensive blueprint provided in H.R. 2 to take meaningful steps to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws, Congress failed to include any real policy changes. The American people deserve legislation that delivers secure borders, and strong enforcement of our immigration laws—not cosmetic changes that would simply continue the humanitarian disaster at our borders.

To learn more about H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, and how you can get involved, visit FAIR’s activist toolkit here. To read more about actions that Biden can take to secure our borders today, click here.