[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Numerous provisions affecting immigration have made it in to Congress' 1.3 trillion spending bill, but the most glaring omission is the lack of any new laws protecting recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Dreamers, immigrants who entered the country illegally when they were children, have been passed around as a political football in recent months. The Trump administration ended the DACA program, which allowed many dreamers to live and work in the country legally, last September. Recent court cases have kept the program alive.
While the bill has not yet been passed, and anything is possible, here are some immigration proposals that are currently in the bill.
- Increased funding for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), allowing for an additional 328 CBP officers
- Requirement for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reduce the number of beds in detention centers
- $1.6 billion for border wall funding, with limitations on how that money can be spent
- An increase of $1.34 billion for the Census Bureau
- Protections for DACA recipients
- $25 billion for border wall funding
- Funding to increase the number of ICE detention beds
- Penalties against so-called "sanctuary cities"
