The White House’s latest proposal aimed at fixing the border crisis is a nearly $1 billion program that provides housing, medical care, and legal services for migrants.
In a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), the White House said the requested money would be used “to continue the progress made since the president implemented his border enforcement and management plan after the Title 42 public health order lifted.” That letter outlines a $759 million initiative for “community-based residential facilities … [with] medical care, legal programming, and other services through contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements with non-governmental organizations.” Any refugee, asylum seeker, or “other migrants” would be eligible to live at the facility.
President Biden has presided over the worst border crisis in U.S. history with some five million migrants crossing the border illegally. The crisis has left blue cities like New York at their wit’s end. Mayor Eric Adams warned the Biden administration earlier this month that New York is at capacity, with migrants sleeping on sidewalks, and asked for more financial aid.
The new housing program is part of a broader $40.1 billion supplementary spending package that includes arms for Ukraine and disaster relief, as well as $4 billion for immigration-related services. Critics such as former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Thomas Homan say the program’s promise of free housing will only exacerbate the border crisis.
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