ACLU Comment on Homeland Security Taking Funds Meant for FEMA and Coast Guard

WASHINGTON — Congress made public today a document outlining the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to take nearly $280 million in funds meant for FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the TSA, among other critical priorities. Over $115 million of these funds will go towards President Trump’s growing detention and deportations of immigrants, with the rest being used for sham border courts to support Trump’s new policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico.

Madhuri Grewal, American Civil Liberties Union policy counsel, said:

“Under President Trump, DHS is consistently seizing funds that were meant for crucial government services and redirecting taxpayer dollars to jail and deport more immigrants, and support its unlawful policy of forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico. The agency’s reckless disregard for constitutional checks and balances has grown its budget to the largest ever — and led to the detention of an unprecedented number of immigrants.

“An agency that cannot be trusted to maintain its spending within the bounds set by Congress, that consistently disregards congressional authority and the Constitution, and continues to inflict pain and suffering in our communities and at the border should not be rewarded. Congress must restrict the agency’s ability to manipulate the budget process and cut funding for ICE and CBP. ”

An ACLU blog post on the DHS funding transfer request is online here:
https://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/immigrants-rights-and-detention/trump-taking-more-money-raids-and-detention