Many Hoosiers have written me with concerns that the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress funds President Obama’s executive amnesty plan. This bill does not fund Obama’s amnesty because funds appropriated by Congress aren’t being used to implement any of what the Obama Administration plans to do. Instead, the administration is going to pay for its plan by using visa fees, which are collected by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This means that once the Obama Administration starts granting amnesty, it will be paid for by fees collected from those trying to legally immigrate to the United States, not funds appropriated by Congress. What Congress can do to stop President Obama’s amnesty plan is pass a bill prohibiting the use of visa fees to implement the executive action or attach this language as a rider on an appropriations bill. Republicans wanted to attach such a rider to the spending bill Congress just approved, but given that Democrats still control the Senate, it had no chance of passing. This is why Republicans fought to only fund DHS through February 27, 2015. By funding DHS only through February, a Republican House and Senate can attach a rider blocking Obama’s amnesty plan to the next DHS appropriations bill.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 14:59:35 +0000
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