Rep. Ashley Hinson: Democrats Transfer Border Wall Funds to Plants Trampled by Illegal Aliens

Wild flowers bloom in front of the US-Mexico border fence seen from Tijuana, in Baja Calif
GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

A Democrat-approved spending budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) strips previously approved funds for a wall along the United States-Mexico border and transfers the money to be spent on plants that are trampled by illegal aliens, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) says.

On Tuesday, House Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee approved their DHS spending budget, which, as Breitbart News reported, revokes all funding for a border wall and expands upon President Joe Biden’s “sanctuary country” orders by making it increasingly difficult for federal immigration officials to deport illegal aliens.

No House Republicans on the committee voted for the budget.

Hinson, who unseated U.S. Chamber of Commerce-endorsed Democrat Abby Finkenauer last year, said the budget actually siphons $100 million — previously approved to continue building border wall — to treat plants that have been trampled on by illegal aliens crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

“While bill today cuts our funding to CBP by more than $900 million with no new money for border agents, tucked away in Section 211 is a provision that transfers $100 million in funds that were previously enacted for border security,” Hinson said:

So where is this money going when it’s ripped from CBP’s anemic budget? It is instead going to plants that have been trampled by illegal immigrants. It’s certainly not being used as I believe it was intended to be used which is to secure our border. [Emphasis added]

Ladies and gentlemen, our southern border is open for business and the cartels are a hungry customer walking through our doors … we need to secure our borders, we need to protect Americans, that’s our job. [Emphasis added]

The budget provision mentions that $100 million previously approved for border wall construction will now be spent on “mitigation activities.”

The budget states:

The Committee continues to be concerned about the impacts of border barrier construction on sensitive lands and wildlife along the southwest land border, including in national wildlife refuges, national forests, national monuments, wilderness areas, and on imperiled species. To address these concerns, the bill provides authority to use up to $100,000,000 of available prior-year funds appropriated for border barrier construction for mitigation activities, including land acquisition, related to the construction of border barriers on federal land. Authority is also provided to allow for the transfer of funds to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Services for the same activities. [Emphasis added]

The budget, among other things, cuts Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding by almost $930 million and reduces Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding by $1.5 million compared to the current fiscal year’s spending levels.

Also, the budget rescinds the previously appropriated $2.06 billion for border wall construction and provides no funding for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Most consequential, the budget prevents ICE agents from deporting an illegal alien who applies to sponsor an Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) and illegal aliens whose only criminal history is possession of marijuana.

While revoking all funding for border wall construction, the Democrats’ Department of Defense budget spends nearly a billion of American taxpayer money on border security for foreign countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Oman.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.