A Department of Homeland Security official denied on Tuesday a Wall Street Journal report claiming the federal agency has no money to fund the detention of illegal immigrants and asylum applicants in southern border states.
“We are not ‘running out of money’ for immigration detention as yesterday’s Wall Street Journal claims,” the official said. “To be sure, we are detaining more than expected due to a recent uptick in illegal migration on our southern border.”
The official, who spoke on background, said DHS is detaining more aliens than expected because of an uptick in illegal migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. An ICE executive testified before Congress in March that they expected to detain 31,000 people through the end of the year, a jump from previous recent years.
But the official also noted that it’s less than two weeks into the new fiscal year. DHS is in a position to continue detaining the current elevated levels of aliens through December 9, when federal funding runs out.
Long-term sustained levels of border activity would force Secretary Jeh Johnson’s department to request alternative funding from Congress and the Office of Management and Budget. The official added this type of budgetary adjustment is common and has been used in the past for unexpected surges.
The Journal had reported on Monday that Homeland Security administrators were planning to ask the White House for additional funds to detain illegal entrants, explaining they would run out of resources by November and have no other way to continue operations.
