Friday, March 11, 2022

GOP/Dem Spending Bill Funds Border Security for Eight Foreign Countries ... $0 Dollars for Any New U.S. Border Wall Funding; Republicans Preserve $1.9 Billion in Unspent Border Wall Construction Cash in 2022 Spending Bill

Apu Gomes/Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images
GOP/Dem Spending Bill Funds Border Security for Eight Foreign Countrie:
A Democrat spending bill, negotiated with Republicans, uses American taxpayer money to fund “border security” measures in eight foreign countries while including no new funds to construct a border wall along the United States-Mexico border.
The government funding package spends about $370 million in taxpayer money to fund “enhanced border security” in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman. At least $150 million of that funding is allocated for Jordan’s borders.
Likewise, the package includes taxpayer money to fund border security in Libya, “border security activities” in Nepal, and “border security programs” in Pakistan.
Though Republicans were able to preserve nearly $2 billion in previously-allocated border wall construction funds, the package does not include any new border wall funding. --->READ MORE HERE
AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File
Republicans preserve $1.9 billion in border wall cash in 2022 spending bill:
Republicans preserved nearly $2 billion in unspent border wall construction money as part of the government-wide spending bill announced Wednesday, and also won increases in funding for ICE and the Border Patrol, dashing hopes of immigrant-rights advocates who’d called for deep cuts.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation operations will get $109 million more than President Biden requested, and Customs and Border Protection is receiving about $1 billion in cash to deal with the surge of immigrants entering the country illegally that’s erupted on Mr. Biden’s watch.
The bill also includes a total rewrite of the government’s “golden visa,” or EB-5 program, which allows wealthy foreigners to buy into a pathway to citizenship by making major investments in job-creation projects in the U.S. EB-5 has been rife with fraud.
The immigration provisions are tucked inside the massive $1.5 trillion package governing funding for fiscal year 2022. The 2,741-page bill was released around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, and lawmakers had just hours to skim the legislation before the first votes were taken.
The border wall money was among the biggest fights.
While there is no new money for the wall, President Trump left office with nearly $2 billion in the pipeline.
Mr. Biden immediately halted construction and asked Congress to rescind the money that was already approved. Democrats pushed a bill through the House last year that included language revoking the cash.
But Republicans succeeded in deleting that language from the final bill this week. --->READ MORE HERE
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