Idaho Senators Join Effort to Block Taxpayer Funded Payments to Illegal Immigrants

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Republican colleagues in introducing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 to block President Biden’s reported plan to spend upwards of $1 billion to provide $450,000 per person in taxpayer money for settlements for illegal immigrants.  

“The Biden Administration continues to refuse to call the situation at the border what it is--a staggering and unprecedented crisis,” said Senator Crapo.  “The latest proposal by this Administration to reward illegal behavior on the backs of hardworking Americans struggling from rising inflation, supply chain shortages and increased costs is shortsighted and unacceptable.  We should not be incentivizing further illegal immigration by rewarding illegal entry.” 

“The Biden administration’s handling at our southern border has been nothing short of disastrous,” said Senator Risch.  “Rewarding illegal immigrants with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars will only incentivize more illegal immigration and increase the flow of illegal drugs across the border and into states like Idaho. We cannot allow this administration to pay people to break our laws.” 

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Todd Young (R-Indiana), Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) also co-sponsored this amendment. 

For amendment text, click HERE. 

Senators Crapo and Risch also co-sponsored the measure as a standalone bill.  For bill text, click HERE. 

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