House Appropriators Send DHS FY18 Spending Bill to Full Committee
The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on July 12 approved fiscal year 2018 spending legislation (here) that matches CBP’s $109 million request for new non-intrusive inspection equipment, and would formally ban imports of property confiscated by the Cuban government. CBP requested $109.2 million for non-intrusive inspection equipment in its procurement, construction and improvement budget for FY18, reflecting a 21 percent increase over annualized FY17 continuing resolution funding levels. In total, the bill would provide $13.8 billion in discretionary appropriations for CBP, $1.6 billion above the FY17-enacted level.
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A committee spokeswoman said the full committee expects to consider the spending bill next week. Leading committee Democrats indicated early dissent. Full committee ranking member Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and subcommittee ranking member Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., both cited significant proposed increases to spending on immigration enforcement as central reasons for their opposition. "In the past few years, we have been able to bridge our differences sufficiently to produce a subcommittee bill that Democrats could support," Roybal-Allard said during July 12's markup (here). "While we continue to have a good working relationship, the new administration has significantly changed the dynamic on immigration enforcement, and the result, unfortunately, is that I cannot in good conscience support this year’s bill in its current form."
Roybal-Allard criticized the legislation's proposed $705 million increase for immigration enforcement "in the interior" of the U.S. She also said appropriators should invest "much more in new customs officers." Lowey said Democrats would "support bills that include appropriate spending levels and are free from misguided, politically driven policies," and slammed the bill's immigration provisions, including the $1.6 billion proposed for a wall on the U.S. southern border.