Senate begins consideration of DHS budget
The House approved a a $42.9 billion measure to fund DHS; the Senate picked up the measure yesterday; debate looms over whether to make the E-Verify measure permanent
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a $42.9 billion measure to fund DHS, and yesterday the Senate began its consideration of the bill. On average, the bills emerging from the House for non-defense expenditures provide a 12 percent increase over last year’s budget. The homeland security bill pending in the Senate would provide somewhat less generous increases averaging 7 percent to the myriad agencies in the sprawling DHS. AP reports that the measure includes big increases for explosives detection systems at U.S. airports, continues to pour money into enforcement efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border, and provides $4.2 billion in grants to state and local governments for various grant programs.
The Senate homeland security measure would extend for three years the E-Verify program, which uses the Social Security Administration database to check whether employees are illegal immigrants.
Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama offered an amendment to extend the program permanently and require companies doing business with the U.S. government to participate in it. Democrats say E-Verify is an important element of any comprehensive immigration reform bill and were expected on Wednesday to reject the move to make the program permanent.
Lawmakers who favor comprehensive immigration reform generally are reluctant to support a long-term extensions of E-Verify for fear of giving away leverage. The voluntary program, however, is a favorite of lawmakers who prefer an enforcement-first approach to immigration policy.
