Exclusive — Rep. Ashley Hinson: $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Undermines Immigration Enforcement

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) told Breitbart News in an exclusive statement on Tuesday that the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill undermines border enforcement and misses a crucial opportunity to secure the border.

“The omnibus was a missed opportunity to secure our border and ensure our Border Patrol agents have the resources necessary to manage this worsening, Biden-created crisis. Instead, the bill undermines immigration enforcement and does not take the steps the American people are demanding we take to secure our border,” Hinson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told Breitbart News.

Hinson said the bill contains many provisions that may actually weaken the country’s ability to curb the migration crisis at the southern border.

The over 4,000-page bill contains roughly $800 million that NGOs can use to provide resources and services to illegal aliens and/or border crossers.

The legislation, when accounting for inflation, would also cut Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations, the account that funds deportations of illegal aliens.

The bill also cuts funding for border technology by $45 million.

Further, the bill does not enact any longstanding Republican policies to curb illegal immigration, including maintaining Title 42, reinstating Remain-in-Mexico, and further funding a border wall along the southern border.

The legislation provides for funding 300 additional border patrol agents.

United States Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said during a December panel with the Homeland Security and Defense Forum that every time he is asked about more funding, he says he needs 22,000 agents.