The House passed late Thursday its fiscal year 2013 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill 234-182.
The bill, H.R. 5855, would provide $39.1 billion in discretionary spending, which is $484 million below the current fiscal year’s level and $394 million less than President Obama’s request. (CQ Today, June 7, 2012; see FAIR Legislative Update, May 14, 2012)
True immigration reformers in the House offered several amendments to the legislation, which FAIR supported. These amendments included:
• Barletta (R-PA) – Prohibits funds from going to sanctuary cities (adopted via voice vote)
• Black (R-TN) – Prohibits funding for the position of Public Advocate/illegal alien lobbyist within Immigration Customs and Enforcement (adopted via voice vote)
• Cravaack (R-MN) – Prohibits funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release or to provide alternative forms of detention for criminal aliens (adopted via voice vote)
• Graves (R-MO) – Prohibits DHS from implementing its rule to circumvent the 3 and 10-yr bar (adopted via voice vote)
• King (R-IA) – Prohibits funds to enforce the Morton Memos (adopted 238-175)
• Poe (R-TX) – Transfers $10 million from the Office of the Undersecretary for Management to Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and Technology for border cell phone service (adopted 302-113)
• Price (R-GA) – Prohibits funds from being used to circumvent/fail to enforce immigration laws (adopted via voice vote)
• Sullivan (R-OK) – Prohibits funds from being used to terminate the 287(g) program (adopted 250-164)
Despite overwhelming support in the House for the bill and its responsible immigration-reform measures, the legislation’s future remains unclear. President Obama has already threatened to veto the bill, and the Senate Appropriations Committee has passed its own version of FY 2013 DHS appropriations, which cuts several key immigration programs. (See Statement of Administration Policy, June 6, 2012; see also FAIR Legislative Update, May 30, 2012) Stay tuned to FAIR for updates as the legislation progresses…
