Staff Reports
The Commander in Chief has done it again! President Joe Biden is asking Congress for a whopping $4.7 billion to throw at the border crisis, as his administration tries to patch up the sinking ship of illegal immigration flooding in from the southern border. The White House is really laying it on thick, calling on House and Senate lawmakers to bust open the piggy bank and hand over billions to deal with the tidal wave of illegal immigrants streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border every single day.
Biden asks Congress to fork over $4.7 billion to aid DHS in border crisis response https://t.co/NwgEhnIklU
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 11, 2024
The Biden administration is painting a bleak picture of the border conditions, claiming that the uncertainty down yonder demands not just a regular old budget, but a $4.7 billion special contingency fund. They want to be able to splurge on border response when those Southwest encounters hit certain levels. The Department of Homeland Security, as the big spender in this situation, will get to use these funds for surge-related activities. They gotta make sure to transfer some of those funds over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency when the stars align just right.
Let’s not forget, the ICE budget was looking pretty meager back in May, leading the agency to think about slimming down its detention levels and freeing thousands of immigrants to save a few bucks. Sleepy Joe’s DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had some thoughts on the matter, touting the budget as an investment in border security. Mayorkas is also all about fighting that fentanyl trafficking, protecting trade, battling climate change, beefing up support for our allies in the Indo-Pacific, and showering love and attention on the hardworking folks at the Department of Homeland Security.
But hold onto your hats, because it’s not all unicorns and rainbows here. The Biden administration tried to score big with a bipartisan Senate border deal that would’ve served up a whole heap of emergency cash, but those House Republicans and the Republican-in-chief, Donald Trump, gave it a hard pass. That’s right, the Biden bunch had to get real creative to rustle up some cash for their pet projects.
Of that $4.7 billion, a solid $2 billion will find its way over to CBP and ICE, both of which fall under the spankin’ new Department of Homeland Security. These agencies are responsible for nabbing, processing, detaining, deporting, or setting free the immigrants who come a-knockin’ on Uncle Sam’s door without an invite.
The White House wants us to believe that this fat wallet is the solution to all our border problems, but let’s be real here — the Republicans aren’t buying it. They’re calling out the Biden bunch for doing a whole lot of reacting and not much preventing when it comes to the illegal immigration flood. Since Joe took office, over 8 million immigrants have tried to worm their way into the country without a golden ticket. That’s more than any other Commander in Chief has had to handle in the same timeframe. Talk about a rough start!
Back in October, the White House shot Congress a proposal that would’ve sent over $100 billion to Ukraine and Israel, with a nice sprinkling of $13.6 billion for the U.S. border. The Republicans saw that as an opening to beef up the border language, but those negotiations didn’t go quite as planned.
The Senate was working on a deal to feed the border what it needed, but the House Republicans and Trump weren’t biting. The Biden squad thought they were really tough on immigration with this one, but not everyone was on board. The National Border Patrol Council gave it a thumbs-up, but those left-leaning immigrant rights groups called foul because they thought it put a kink in the asylum pipeline.
The President’s budget is all about beefing up border enforcement, while still banging on Congress’s door to pass legislation and send some extra cash to shore up those borders. They’re looking to toss some of this cash into the hiring pot, too. The Department of Homeland Security is getting ready to bring on an additional 1,300 Border Patrol agents, 1,000 officers at the ports of entry, and 1,600 asylum officers and support peeps.
And get this — that $4.7 billion is just a drop in the bucket compared to Biden’s whopping $7.3 trillion budget proposal unveiled on Monday. Looks like the White House is eager to put its money where its mouth is! Let’s hope it’s put to good use.v
