Today, the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, wrote a joint letter to Congress urging the immediate passage of emergency funding to their agencies, citing the ongoing crisis at the southern border.
This past May, the Trump Administration requested $4.5 billion in emergency appropriations for all agencies dealing with the humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. Due to a lack of funding and resources, DHS has been required to pull resources and personnel from their non-border locations throughout the country and direct them to the border, so far this year over half a million immigrants have been apprehended illegally crossing the southern border through Mexico from Central America. Over 144,000 aliens have crossed the border since the Administration's request for funding on May 1st, 2019.
In the letter urging quick action, Acting Secretary McAleenan states:
The Administration's emergency supplemental request will support DHS efforts to address the immediate humanitarian crisis. Without the funding, DHS will not have the resources to properly care for the families and children in custody. We urge Congress to immediately approve the Administration's supplemental request.
This letter comes on the heels of the House Freedom Caucus beginning a new strategy yesterday in House debates over the nearly $1 trillion minibus spending bill. In protest of House Democrats refusal to consider the supplemental spending bill to address the border crisis, Freedom Caucus Republicans are actively holding up the debate process by repeated calls for lengthy roll-call votes and even lengthier adjournment votes. This plan effectively obstructs the House Democrats' plans to pass such a high spending bill without the necessary appropriations for border security and immigration reform.
For more on this story, please visit DHS.gov
To read the joint letter, please visit govdelivery.com
To read the original request for additional funding, please visit whitehouse.gov
