Washington, D.C. — The House of Representatives finalized a vote today on a clean funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, funding the department through the rest of the fiscal year without the amendments that would have done away with the DHS directives on immigration announced by President Barack Obama in November. Marshall Fitz and Vikram Singh of the Center for American Progress released the following statements:
“We are glad to see House Republicans following the lead of the Senate and finally allowing DHS to be funded through the fiscal year just like the rest of the government. Holding DHS funding to a political argument over the November 20 DHS directives was not only petty, but it also threatened our national security by not allowing states and localities to receive the critical security and infrastructure grants the department makes,” said Marshall Fitz, CAP Vice President of Immigration Policy. “The futile and dangerous effort to block funding because of the DHS directives was also fiscally and economically counterproductive: Allowing close to 5 million people to get temporary legal protection and a work permit will add $22.6 billion to the U.S. economy over five years, help shore up Social Security, and reduce our deficit by $60 billion—all gains that would not be realized had House Republicans gotten their way,” Fitz remarked.
“We can all breathe a sigh of relief now that homeland security will not be defunded over some House Republicans’ opposition to immigration reform, but we cannot afford to keep putting national security at risk for political grandstanding. These games disrupt planning and funding for the defense of the nation. GOP lawmakers should reject once and for all any efforts to shut down America over a policy debate,” said Vikram Singh, CAP Vice President for National Security and International Policy.
For more information or to speak with an expert on this topic, please contact Tanya S. Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.
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