Why Lawmakers Should Vote “No” on House Budget – Cuts for American Families in Order to Scale up Funding toPrivate Contractors for Mass Deportations

Washington, DC — A disturbing report in Politico notes a “group of prominent military contractors, including former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, has pitched the Trump White House on a proposal to carry out mass deportations through a network of ‘processing camps’ on military bases, a private fleet of 100 planes, and a ‘small army’ of private citizens empowered to make arrests.” Meanwhile, NPR adds more details to the growing understanding of the Trump administration’s plan to rely on military personnel and facilities to turbocharge the indiscriminate mass detention and mass deportation of immigrants.

These new revelations only underscore the importance of lawmakers voting “No” on the House budget vote that is expected later today.  As we noted yesterday, the House budget prioritizes mass deportations and detention at a high cost to many other priorities critical 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 (potentially even by Erik Prince and Blackwater as the Politico report details). 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 indiscriminate mass deportations, including those potentially facilitated by private military contractors like Blackwater. None of that would actually fix our immigration system or keep us safe. Meanwhile, they would come at a high cost to Americans’ top priorities – 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:

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. Will this funding continue to prioritize the arrest of immigrants who pose no public safety threat over terrorism and the fight against fentanyl?