Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan framework on Thursday to fund noncontroversial operations at the Department of Homeland Security – but did so as part of a deal to fast-track hundreds of billions of dollars in new immigration enforcement funding through the budget reconciliation process. Reconciliation is a powerful legislative tool that allows Congress to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold. Republican majorities are using reconciliation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without the checks, compromises, or community protections that people have been calling for. Hispanic Federation issued a response regarding the funding for nutrition programs that can be seen here. Below is a statement from Jessica Orozco Guttlein, Senior Vice President of Policy and Communications at Hispanic Federation.
“Federal enforcement operations continue to run amok across the United States, and Hispanic Federation has repeatedly urged Congress to implement common-sense protections against federal operations that endanger the safety and well-being of every community. Even now, school desks sit empty, businesses are closed, families are torn apart, and lives are lost because of unchecked federal action. We are glad that the noncontroversial components of the Department of Homeland Security will soon fully reopen, restoring stability for workers, their families, and the communities where they work. However, it is extremely disturbing that the House of Representatives only took this step in exchange for a partisan push to fast-track legislation to fund ICE and CBP without adequate community protections or guardrails for years to come.
Congress has a duty to ensure that our civil rights are safeguarded and that federal agents protect our communities, not torment them. Instead, majorities in both chambers of Congress are prepared to abdicate their primary authority, to properly appropriate funds, to give the executive branch a blank check to maintain and even accelerate belligerent actions. The Congressional majority is allowing the government to fund a partisan operation that greenlights dragnet operations in our communities that the majority of Americans oppose. We urge Congress to reject this reconciliation legislation and return to bipartisan negotiations on appropriations to pass funding packages that protect the interests of all Americans.”
