A House subcommittee yesterday missed an opportunity to permanently defund the president’s executive amnesties. The subcommittee cleared a draft DHS spending bill that defunds the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents amnesty and the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals amnesty, but only while a related federal court injunction remains in effect. The measure does not affect DHS because the injunction imposed by Texas District Court Judge Andrew Hanen already prohibits the agency from implementing those amnesties.
Section 560 of the bill says “No funds, resources, or fees made available to the Secretary of Homeland Security, or to any other official of a Federal agency, by this Act or any other Act for any fiscal year, including any deposits into the ‘‘Immigration Examinations Fee Account’’ established under section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)), may be obligated to expand the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or newly proposed Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents as outlined in memoranda signed November 20, 2014, by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security while the preliminary injunctive order of the district court for the Southern District of Texas entered February 16, 2015, in the matter of Texas v. United States, Civ. No. B-14-254, 2015 WL 648579 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 16, 2015), remains in effect.”
With regard to other matters, the draft bill provides for an increase of 604 ICE agents to strengthen interior enforcement. It also would increase detention space for illegal-alien family units by 2,700 beds. The additional beds are intended to house newly-arriving family units while officials arrange for their immediate deportation.
The bill includes $119.7 million for the E-Verify program, which enables employers to check the workplace eligibility of new hires. This amount represent a decrease of $4.8 million below the fiscal year 2015 level and $10 million below the President’s request
The full Appropriations Committee will mark up the draft bill on Tuesday, July 14th.
Read the Subcommittee’s bill summary or the draft bill.
