President Biden’s new budget calls for the hiring of 350 more Border Patrol agents, on top of the 350 that were in his last budget and that were approved by Congress in December.
The president also proposed $40 million in funding that he said could be used to stop fentanyl trafficking across the border.
And he asked for nearly $1 billion in new cash for the legal immigration agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, continuing to erode the tradition of having that agency fund itself through fees paid by immigrants and businesses who seek to employ them.
Mr. Biden said the new money will be used to reduce backlogs and pay for immigrants such as refugees, who aren’t required to pay anything.
Mr. Biden also called for a nearly $5 billion “contingency” fund to accommodate ups and downs at the border. He said the numbers are too unpredictable to make firm budget projections about how much money will be needed.
The budget Mr. Biden revealed Thursday is an outline. The full budget will be submitted next week, and that will include critical details such as how many detention beds the president wants to have for illegal immigrants awaiting their court cases.
Experts say detention is a key to cutting into the illegal flow of people at the southern border, but the Biden administration has proposed major cuts every year. Those cuts have not been adopted by Congress.
Overall, Mr. Biden’s immigration proposals would pump cash into new personnel.
In addition to the 350 Border Patrol agents, he is calling for 180 new immigration judges and 460 more “processing assistants,” who would assist in processing the migrant surge, allowing Border Patrol agents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to get back into the field making arrests.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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