How US Tax Dollars Fund The Border Crisis

Written by Hudson Crozier

What happened: The Department of Homeland Security recently announced $77 million in funding for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that provide "temporary shelter and other eligible costs” for illegal immigrants. The DHS has given over $770 million to these groups since the passing of President Joe Biden’s omnibus spending bill last year.

Why it matters: NGOs incentivize illegal immigration by rewarding border-crossers with resources, free of charge, helping them settle in the U.S. while their immigration proceedings play out for years. The groups are a key tool in the Biden administration’s lax governance of the border, leading Republicans to call for defunding them.

How they do it: These taxpayer-funded groups distribute maps to illegal migrants that highlight border crossing points, work hand-in-hand with the government to process them, and provide food, shelter, and transportation around the country, plus legal services to avoid deportation.

• An agenda: Even Biden’s own DHS caught NGOs providing funds and services to “gotaway” illegal immigrants who had successfully evaded law enforcement and were therefore ineligible for aid. Activist NGOs also lobbied against former President Donald Trump’s stricter border policies.

Zoom out: Ahead of the 2024 election, Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Biden’s immigration response. GOP investigations are tying the Biden administration’s border policy to cartel crime and other problems, setting up a possible impeachment of Biden’s Homeland Security secretary.

• Plus: The administration has tried to save face by manipulating statistics to make it appear as though border crossings have dropped dramatically, which legacy media report as fact.