Congressional Hispanic Caucus Response to DHS Reprogramming $271 Million for ICE

SAN ANTONIO — Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, released the following statement on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notification to Congress of transfer and reprogramming $271 million in federal funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the purpose of funding detention beds, transportation, and removal of migrant families:

"Congress has already delivered unprecedented funding this year alone to the Department of Homeland Security to address the humanitarian crisis created by the Trump Administration's own policies. Now, they are stealing $271 million from essential programs to pay for additional ICE detention beds and expand deportation operations.

"Hidden in this transfer notice, DHS steals $155 million from FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund on the eve of hurricane season to expand their cruel Remain in Mexico policy. They're raiding the Coast Guard, TSA, and cybersecurity programs – all of which protect our country from the most dire threats – to instead pay over $101 million for detention beds and millions more to deport immigrant families. Draining millions from agencies across DHS will directly undermine our security and leave our communities unprepared to face security threats and natural disasters.

"The only purpose of this ‘reprogramming' is for the Trump Administration to inflict more cruelty on our Hispanic and immigrant communities at the direct expense of critical security priorities. They cannot be allowed to get away with this level of extreme fiscal mismanagement. Congress, both Democrats and Republicans alike, must fight this wrongful transfer and ensure that our national security is not compromised for the sake of the President's political agenda."

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.