Secure America Act Signed by Trump
WASHINGTON—On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed the Secure America Act, securing funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until the end of his term.
With this legislation, Congressional Democrats, who had stalled funding for DHS to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for over three months, have seen their influence over Trump’s remaining term significantly decrease.
The Safer America Act passed both chambers of Congress without any Democratic support and allocates $38 billion to ICE and $26 billion to CBP.
In the Oval Office, flanked by House Minority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and other Republicans, Trump stated, “For more than 100 days, Congressional Democrats have tried to block all funding to the Department of Homeland Security in a reprehensible attempt to open the borders of the United States. They want to drag us back into a world of chaos and crime.”
He also remarked that by opposing the bill, Democrats were endorsing “cartels, terrorists, gang members, drug traffickers, human traffickers, and child predators,” while most Republicans stood to protect law-abiding citizens.
DHS Secretary Markwayn Mullin, who assumed office in March amidst the funding issues, called the bill’s approval a significant win for both President Trump and DHS.
Mullin expressed, “First of all, we can pay everyone, which is very exciting for all of us. Some of our ICE and CBP employees have been in Latin America since February and weren’t getting paid. It’s amazing they still showed up and worked every day.”
He stressed that the Secure America Act will diminish the Democrats’ ability to obstruct funding for ICE and CBP and commended Trump’s proactive approach.
“Now Democrats won’t be able to shut down ICE or threaten to halt CBP, which is crucial for border security. They can’t do that anymore,” he added. “They cannot use this as leverage against the American people or President Trump.”
