The President's FY 2021 budget proposal includes $2 billion to construct an additional 82 miles of wall. The Trump Admin. has already constructed 101 miles of wall and plans to construct an additional 475 miles, according to the proposal, costing an estimated $18.4 billion.
But this year’s funding request goes much further than just Trump’s border wall: It represents a massive expansion of the administration’s immigration enforcement apparatus, of which the wall is only a small part. He’s asking for $3.1 billion to increase the capacity of immigration detention centers to house 60,000 people at any given time, even though Congress had previously ordered him to decrease capacity to about 40,000. And he wants $4 billion to care for unaccompanied alien children once they’re transferred from immigration custody to the Department of Health and Human Services.
His budget proposal also calls for a total of $1.6 billion to significantly increase staffing across the immigration agencies. He would hire another 1,050 Border Patrol officials, more than 4,600 new US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and 100 new immigration judges in an effort to drive down their over 1 million-case backlog and additional support staff. He would also allocate a total of $126 million to support his Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, under which more than 60,000 migrants have been sent back to Mexico to wait on a decision on their asylum applications in the US.
Despite the laundry list of campaign promises appearing throughout the FY2021 budget, one key aspect seems to be missing, mandatory E-Verify. That is right, President Trump seems to no longer support making the free online government program that allows employers to check their employees' worker eligibility mandatory for all employers across the nation.
E-Verify is absolutely necessary when it comes to ensuring compliance with immigration rules in the labor force. Local businesses can take action by using E-Verify to prevent the hiring of aliens who lack the authorization to work in the United States. With ongoing structural unemployment and stagnant wages, the best thing any smart, practical, law-abiding, civic-minded and patriotic American businesses can do is to begin using E-Verify to ensure that all new hires are legal to work in the United States.
Take a look below and see if you can notice the differences between Trump's FY2020 and FY2021 federal budget proposals, particularly when it comes to E-Verify.
FY2020
Reduces Illegal Immigration Work Incentives. "The employment of illegal aliens by companies is a violation of the law, harms U.S. workers, and contributes to human smuggling, document fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and labor violations. The Budget proposes mandatory, nationwide use of the E-Verify system, an online tool that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify is available at no cost to employers and has an accuracy rate of over 99.8 percent. The Administration continues to require the use of E-Verify by Federal contractors to ensure the proper utilization of Federal dollars."
FY2021
Maintains a Critical Employment Verification System. "The employment of illegal aliens by companies is a violation of the law, harms U.S. workers, and contributes to human smuggling, document fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and labor violations. The E-Verify system is an online tool that allows businesses to easily and accurately determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify is available at no cost to employers and 98 percent of employees are automatically confirmed as authorized to work either instantly or within 24 hours. The Administration continues to require the use of E-Verify by Federal contractors to ensure the proper utilization of Federal dollars."
