Advocates chide Biden over ICE funding plan – By Caroline Simon (Roll Call) / June 8 2021
Budget proposal for the DHS agency would keep spending at Trump-era levels in fiscal 2022
Immigrant advocates are questioning President Joe Biden’s proposal to fund U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at levels similar to the current year despite plans to narrow agency enforcement efforts and reduce detention.
Under Biden’s fiscal 2022 proposal, ICE would get $7.9 billion, more than half of which would go toward detention and deportation of immigrants — a proportion similar to fiscal 2021.
“We’re surprised and alarmed by the budget,” said Heidi Altman, policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center, criticizing the focus on “enforcement-centered policies.”
The Biden administration early on took steps to shift ICE enforcement away from the hard-line policies of the Trump era. Under interim guidance, the Homeland Security agency is mostly limiting enforcement actions, including arrests and deportations, to immigrants who fall under one of three categories: suspected terrorists and threats to national security, individuals with aggravated felony convictions or gang ties, and migrants who crossed the border after Nov. 1, 2020.
CONTINUE > https://www.rollcall.com/2021/06/08/advocates-chide-biden-over-ice-funding-plan/
