by Ben Whedon
The Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday unveiled a budget resolution to fund key immigration-related agencies for the next three years.
“Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing. That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States,” Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a press release.
“With this budget resolution, we are moving forward – not backward – on rational immigration policies that secure our border,” he added.
The resolution comes amid an ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which has seen parts of the agency go without funding for more than two months. Democrats have sought immigration policy concessions in exchange for funding, but Republicans have refused to agree to their demands.
Instead, Republicans have sought to pass additional funding through the reconciliation process, which allows lawmakers to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
In reaction to the proposal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said, “Republicans released a budget resolution that shows just how out of touch they are with the American people.”
“Senate Republicans want to pour $140 billion into ICE and Border Patrol without putting any restraints on these rogue agencies’ rampant violence in our streets. That is the last thing Americans want. Democrats are going to offer amendments to the budget to put the [Senate GOP] on the record for their destructive policies,” he said.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News.  Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
