U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined Steve Daines (Mont.) and a group of Senators today in introducing a new amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 that blocks President Biden’s reported plan to give illegal immigrants up to $450,000 per person in taxpayer dollars for settlements by the U.S. government, totaling upwards of a billion dollars. The news first gained attention at the end of last week.
“Joe Biden and his administration’s priorities are completely out of sync with American families, and their plan to pay people who come here illegally nearly half a million dollars is just the latest example,” said Senator Hawley. “It’s frankly insulting they would plan something like this when Americans are facing a supply chain crisis, skyrocketing energy prices, and a struggling economy right now. They might as well put an ‘open’ sign at the southern border, because nothing could incentivize illegal immigration more.”
Senator Hawley and nine of his colleagues also joined Senator Kennedy on a letter to the President earlier this week, opposing his administration’s plan to offer illegal immigrants up to $450,000 per person in taxpayer dollars.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senators Tom Cotton (Ark.), John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Todd Young (Ind.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), John Boozman (Ark.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Richard Burr (N.C.), James Lankford (Okla.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Jim Risch (Idaho) and Mike Crapo (Idaho) also joined Daines in introducing this amendment.
Senator Daines said, “Biden’s open border policies have reached a new crazy level. Montana families are struggling with inflation and skyrocketing costs on everything from gas to groceries because of Biden’s wasteful spending policies, and now the President wants to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants. Because of Biden, our southern border has been taken over by Mexican cartels and this effort will only continue to incentivize illegal immigration making it worse. This is a gut punch to the American taxpayer.”