FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, MD (R-TN) released the following statement after reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making plans to mass-release illegal aliens into the interior unless Congress meets new funding demands being made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These reports come just hours after the House of Representatives voted to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“This is absurd, on a number of levels. First, the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas requested a roughly $700 million cut in the FY24 budget for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations from what Congress enacted in FY23. This is just further proof of Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to comply with the law requiring him to detain illegal aliens—one of the reasons he was just impeached. Additionally, they requested this cut despite the record number of encounters in FY23.
“On top of this, Secretary Mayorkas has consistently requested fewer ICE beds year after year, and then consistently failed to even fill the beds that Congress has given him. Right now, there are literally thousands of ICE beds unfilled because Secretary Mayorkas refuses to make use of them. Instead of treating enforcement as a hostage negotiation—‘give us more money or else’—Secretary Mayorkas should just do his job and follow the law.”
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