Washington, DC — It is critical that lawmakers vote “No” on the House GOP budget proposal, which prioritizes mass deportations and detention at a high cost to working families, businesses, and local communities. The budget would funnel up to $300 billion into turbocharging Trump’s indiscriminate immigration enforcement machine – an anti-immigrant obsession that would threaten the health and security of everyday Americans by diverting funds from vital domestic programs, such as Medicaid, ACA benefits, Pell grants, and nutrition assistance, in favor of indiscriminate detention and deportation. Meanwhile, it wouldn’t make Americans safer or reform a broken immigration system.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“House Republicans are asking Americans to accept a cruel and costly trade-off: gutting essential programs like Medicaid and SNAP that keep families afloat to fund an indiscriminate mass deportation force that will do nothing to fix our immigration system or keep us safe. They are ready to strip resources from seniors, children, and working families while handing Trump a blank check to indiscriminately target long-settled and deeply rooted immigrants with no regard for public safety or economic consequences. Taking away Medicaid to fund mass deportations is a reckless decision that would harm families and communities across America. Lawmakers should vote ‘no.’”
Resources and Background
America’s Voice recently highlighted three key questions that need to be asked of the massive budget request and seeking specifics on how funding would be used:
- Will ICE continue to arrest, detain and deport indiscriminately, including targeting long-settled immigrants, those who have had legal status, and even U.S. citizens?
- As inflation and the cost of living continue to hurt everyday Americans, how will indiscriminate deportations of long-settled essential workers help lower prices and combat inflation?
- Will this funding continue to prioritize the arrest of immigrants who pose no public safety threat over terrorism and the fight against fentanyl?
