Washington, DC — Today it was announced that Mike Pompeo unilaterally approved the transfer of State Department funds to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase funding for Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.
Mary Small, Policy Director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:
“This administration will stop at nothing to push their anti-immigrant agenda forward, including grabbing money from critical resources like disaster preparation and response efforts, and now, responding to humanitarian crises.
This is the second time this year that DHS has used massive funding transfers to expand the detention and deportation machine, including $200 million from other DHS agencies to cover its over-spending on immigration detention and enforcement, and today’s transfer of $20 million from the State Department. A third request—to transfer $450 million from the Department of Defense for Trump’s border wall—is also under consideration.
This decision is particularly appalling for its complete lack of transparency, justification or respect for Congressional oversight. This is yet another, shameful example of DHS angling to increase its detention and deportation budget through opaque back-door procedures.
Trump’s DHS operates under an “answer to no one” mentality, grabbing money left and right to bankroll the deadly immigration enforcement system.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to expose and challenge the injustices of the United States’ immigration detention and deportation system and advocate for profound change that promotes the rights and dignity of all persons. Founded in 1997 by immigrant rights groups, DWN brings together advocates to unify strategy and build partnerships on a local and national level to end immigration detention. Visit www.detentionwatchnetwork.org.