FOLLOW US

The House Appropriations Committee released a $64.8 billion funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the next fiscal year, with a bevy of priorities and policy riders aimed at countering or undoing Biden administration immigration priorities.

The proposed bill would divert $10.5 billion to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, adding another $1.2 billion to the Biden administration's 2025 budget request. That includes $4.1 billion for custody operations, the bulk of which would go toward funding 50,000 daily ICE detention beds, "which is more than ever previously appropriated," according to a summary of the bill released Monday.

Both the Biden administration's fiscal year 2023 and 2024 budget requests sought funding for just 25,000 detention beds, while the 2025 fiscal year request asked for funds for 36,000 beds.

The House proposal would also set aside $600 million for required border wall construction, which would need to commence within about six months of passage, and would fund 22,000 Border Patrol agents.

House Appropriation Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in a statement Monday that the bill is aimed at "keeping Americans safe and secure."

"It also directly targets the Biden Administration's neglect of the chaos at our southern border. Our frontline Border Patrol agents are sustained at their highest level ever — and we prioritized resources to build the wall, remove dangerous criminals, and counter the spread of poisonous fentanyl," Cole said.

The House bill would provide $822.7 million for transportation and removal operations, an increase of $101.4 million from last fiscal year to facilitate removal orders. And the bill will devote $2.6 billion for Homeland Security Investigations, including an $8 million increase over fiscal year 2024 for fentanyl detection, the summary said.

The proposal also includes $300 million for new border security technology.

DHS did not immediately return a request for comment about the House budget bill on Tuesday.

Where the funding priorities sought to counter some Biden administration policies, policy riders attached to the bill would undo others.

One stipulated that no funds can be used for the CBP One app, which DHS currently requires migrants to use to schedule one of 1,450 daily appointments to arrive for processing at a U.S. port of entry or be deemed ineligible for asylum.

Other policy riders would prohibit the Biden administration from continuing to implement prosecutorial discretion policies setting enforcement priorities for who to arrest and remove and would require all noncitizens who are not detained during their immigration proceedings to be monitored with mandatory GPS technology.