Henrico Times

WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) voted today for the Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which aims to secure the southern border and counteract policies from the Biden administration that are perceived to incentivize illegal immigration.

“The crisis at the border is manmade, self-inflicted, and entirely avoidable, which makes it even more heartbreaking and frustrating,” said Congressman Wittman. “It is fundamentally driven by the Biden administration's gross mismanagement at the border and failure at every level.”

“When President Biden took office, he made the calculated decision to immediately halt the border wall construction, revoke successful deterrence-focused policies, relax enforcement of immigration laws, and open the borders,” Congressman Wittman continued. “Today, House Republicans took yet another step in securing the border. I am proud to vote for this year’s Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which will combat the president’s open border policies and provide robust funding for our Border Patrol agents and technology. It is time for the Biden administration to act and end their border crisis.”

Congressman Wittman has a strong record of supporting border security measures, including:

- Voting for the Secure the Border Act, described as the strongest border security package in American history.

- Voting to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his refusal to enforce U.S. immigration law.

- Calling on President Biden to reinstate the previous administration’s Remain in Mexico policy.

The Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations Act addresses what has been termed as the "Biden Border Crisis," citing 3.2 million encounters by Customs and Border Protection last year alone. The bill includes provisions such as:

- $600 million allocated for constructing a southern border wall and $300 million for border security technology.

- Sustained funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents.

- Mandates requiring Secretary Mayorkas to build physical barriers immediately with wall funding restricted solely for this purpose.

Additionally, it seeks to remove dangerous criminals by:

- Providing $4.1 billion for custody operations to fund 50,000 detention beds.

- Allocating $822 million for transportation and removal operations of removable illegal immigrants.