After a flurry of negotiations behind closed doors, House Republicans emerged on Friday with a plan that funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the remainder of the fiscal year and undoes President Obama’s executive amnesty. The strategy, agreed to during a special GOP conference meeting, involves two steps: first, the introduction of a DHS appropriations bill, and second, the introduction of several amendments. These include three amendments that, if adopted, will defund the executive amnesty and two “sense of Congress” amendments that simply send a message to the President. (See The Hill, Jan. 9, 2015)

The first step occurred on Friday when the House Appropriations Committee released a full FY2015 spending bill (H.R. 240) for the Department of Homeland Security that increases funding to immigration-related agencies. Although H.R. 240, as introduced, does not include any policy language, it does allocate more money to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Specifically, the bill appropriates $5.96 billion to ICE, a $689.4 million increase compared to current levels, and specifically allocates more than half the money to fund 34,000 detention beds (maintaining the current requirement) and to increase family detention space by 3,732 beds. Additionally, H.R. 240 fully funds E-Verify.

Under H.R. 240, CBP’s budget grows to $10.7 billion, an increase of $118.7 million over FY2014. The additional funding maintains the number of Border Patrol agents at 21,370 and increases the number of Customs and Border Protection officers to 23,775.

Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) praised the bill, calling it “a responsible bill that makes the most out of each dollar — making the necessary investments to harden our borders, protect against terrorism, and respond and recover from natural disasters — while finding ways to save wherever possible.” (CQ Today, Jan. 9, 2015)

The second step — voting on the defunding amendments — is scheduled to happen today or tomorrow, with the final floor vote expected to quickly follow. One amendment is based on Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) bill from the 113th Congress the House passed last summer that bars the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program. (Blackburn Amendment; see FAIR Legislative Update, Aug. 5, 2014) Another amendment, authored by Reps. Rob DeSantis (R-FL) and Martha Roby (R-AL), mandates that criminal aliens with domestic violence or child sex offenses are the highest civil immigration enforcement priorities. (DeSantis-Roby Amendment)

The third amendment includes Rep. Mick Mulvaney’s (R-SC) amendment from December and a portion of the Repeal Executive Amnesty Act (H.R. 191) authored by Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Lou Barletta (R-PA), and Lamar Smith (R-TX). (Aderholt-Mulvaney-Barletta Amendment) The Mulvaney language defunds President Obama’s November 2014 executive amnesty, known as the Johnson Memos; while the Aderholt-Barletta-Smith language also defunds Obama’s previous executive amnesty, known as theMorton Memos. Additionally, the Aderholt-Mulvaney-Barletta amendment amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit the fees collected by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from being used to grant any Federal benefit to amnestied illegal aliens.

Although House GOP leadership limited the Aderholt-Mulvaney-Barletta amendment to one provision of H.R. 191 (Section 201), the Repeal Executive Amnesty Act is far more reaching in scope. H.R. 191 not only defunds all of President Obama’s executive amnesties but it prevents future administrations from implementing amnesty by executive fiat. Additionally, H.R. 191 significantly curbs the President’s ability to abuse parole, requires DHS to issue detainers and remove criminal aliens, closes a loophole in current law to allow for the prompt processing of unaccompanied alien minors, and reforms asylum provisions that prevent fraud. (See FAIR’s Issue Brief on H.R. 191)

FAIR applauded the introduction of the Repeal Executive Amnesty Act. “The Repeal Executive Amnesty Act is an important first step by the new Congress to restore the rule of law in immigration policy and reaffirm the core principle that our immigration laws exist to serve and protect the interests and security of the American people,” declared Dan Stein, president of FAIR. (FAIR Press Release, Jan. 7, 2015) “FAIR urges the leadership of both houses of Congress to act swiftly to approve this measure to rein in the president’s abuse of power in immigration policy and stand up for the vital interests of the American people,” Stein concluded. (Id.)

H.R. 240 is expected to pass the House with all the amendments attached. However it is uncertain whether the bill will be able to garner the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. (See Wall Street Journal, Jan. 10, 2015) To reach sixty, Republicans will need to six Democratic Senators to vote in favor of it. DHS funding is set to expire on February 27. (See FAIR Legislative Update, Dec. 16, 2014)