As part of the annual process that Congress undertakes to fund the government, The House Appropriations Committee recently passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill for the Fiscal Year 2023.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement come under the Department of Homeland Security.
Other offices, legislation funds agencies, and programs that come under the Department of Homeland Security are – U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Let’s find out how the bill is going to affect the entry of immigrants into the borders of the United States and the asylum and immigration operations of the U.S.
The Controversial DHS Funding Bill
The DHS Funding Bill passed on a voice note as not a single member openly voted against the amendment, which is expected to defund normal border and asylum processing.
This led to the amendment finding its way to be passed as a bill by the committee, but it does not necessarily mean it’ll become a law.
What Is The Controversy?
The DHS bill, which supposedly contained pro-immigrant measures, faced a last-minute amendment that was bound to directly affect the immigration asylum operations of the U.S.
In the amendment, it was declared that DHS is not allowed to spend any funds on processing noncitizens under normal immigration laws in a situation where the person “would have been” subject to Title 42 until after 180 days of the expiration of the COVID national emergency.
What Rep. Newhouse described as a simple extension of Title 42 is actually where the controversy lies.
It is so because Title 42 is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authority, and the DHS funding bill can’t affect Title 42 itself.
Though Appropriations Chairwoman Roybal-Allard spoke against the amendment, it got no voice support during the voting.
The Positives of The Bill
Though the Title 42 amendment appears to bring unhealthy effects to the immigrants, the DHS Bill still has a good share of positive information for immigrants.
- ICE would get $40 million to improve access to phones for people held in detention. An additional $20 million is also mentioned in the bill for “enhancing legal access” of immigrants in detention centers.
- It’ll fund environmental remediation for the border wall.
- $100 million will be provided to fund border surveillance technologies.
- $50 million is entitled to Customs and Border Protection for non-intrusive inspection technology at ports of entry.
Other positive things from the bill are –
- It would exempt children that are granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status from visa caps, thereby eliminating an increasing backlog.
- Another amendment is expected to recapture hundreds of thousands of employment- and family-based green cards that were not used over the last 20 years.
- The bill would also allow Diversity Visa applicants who were denied due to travel bans under the Trump administration to have a second chance at coming to the United States.
Negatives of The Bill
Extending Title 42 that allows Border Patrol to stop people from entering the U.S. at the border due to Covid Pandemic.
Defunding Asylum and Immigration operations
Conclusion
It seems that the negatives of the DHS bill weighed down its positive impact on the immigrants.
But with the support of excellent Immigration lawyers, the hopes are always high of getting legal status as a citizen in the United States.
Whom to Consult for Immigration?
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