Senate Republicans have enlarged the range of their immigration enforcement funding package to encompass $1 billion for security upgrades in the White House ballroom project and $1.5 billion for the Justice Department’s investigative and prosecutorial efforts.
By Catholics for Catholics
It will be all in one package: The White House’s brand spanking new ballroom and funding ICE and Homeland Security.
According to a story by The Washington Times, Senate Republicans have enlarged the range of their immigration enforcement funding package to encompass $1 billion for security upgrades in the White House ballroom project,and $1.5 billion for the Justice Department’s investigative and prosecutorial efforts.
The budget, which is a filibuster-proof reconciliation package that the GOP hopes to pass this month should deliver a total of $71.8 billion through fiscal 2029, created to last through President Trump’s term.
The majority of the funds, $69.3 billion, will be destined to the Department of Homeland Security to provide for immigration enforcement agents and operations.
At issue is that the Democrats filibustered the annual Homeland Security Department appropriations bill over their objection to funding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol functions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, without weighty policy changes.
The ensuing fracas between both parties led to a 76-day department shutdown, which came to a conclusion last week after Congress passed a spending bill that funded the department, except for ICE and Border Patrol.
However, the budget reconciliation package is created to circumvent all of that. It provides $38.2 billion for ICE and $26.1 billion for CBP, as well as $5 billion in additional monies for the Department of Homeland Security, to be used largely at its discretion.
Much of the language describing the permissible uses of the funding is intentionally wide-ranging.
Nevertheless, it has a few stipulations, including that $3.5 billion of the Border Patrol funding be set aside for upgrades of border surveillance and screening technology and “new platforms for rapid air and marine response capabilities.”
As for the hyped White House ballroom, the $1 billion for the project also falls under the Homeland Security Department. The funds are directed to the Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the project.
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