WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) released the following statement in response to Republicans’ use of annual funding for the Department of Homeland Security as leverage to undo executive actions taken by President Obama to help repair our broken immigration system.

“While Republicans claim to be the party of security, nothing could be more dangerous than playing political games with funding for the Department of Homeland Security – especially at a time of heightened alert,” Rep. Grijalva said. “It’s absurd and irresponsible to hold this budget hostage, and to once again threaten a partial government shutdown. These funds are intended to keep Americans safe – not serve the ideological agendas of politicians with axes to grind.  The Republicans continue to include senseless bed mandates and harmful family detention funding in their funding bills; its time they get a reality check on the security needs of this country.”

Grijalva’s comments follow the inclusion of amendments to H.R. 240, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2015, intended to undermine executive action taken by President Obama to address our failing immigration system. Specifically, the amendments would deny the use of any funds, including collected fees, to carry out the policy, or to provide benefits, such as work authorization permits, to undocumented immigrants. Additionally, they make undocumented survivors of domestic violence a top priority for deportation and bar the administration from using funds for any policy of deferred action on deportation. Republicans targeted fees because implementation is fully paid for by user fees.

“For nearly two years, this country waited for Congressional Republicans to join their Senate colleagues in addressing our broken immigration system,” Grijalva continued. “As if their refusal to act wasn’t bad enough, their current tactics make clear that they’d rather enflame our immigration problems than ever see them solved. But undermining the public’s security is a length to which no politician should be willing to go for the sake of a political victory. It’s an abdication of their duties as elected leaders, and a violation of the oath of office they took just days ago.”

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