The
President’s Budget Request: Refugee and Asylum Services, Fiscal Year (FY) 2020,
4/3/19.
The Trump
administration released President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year (FY)
2020 on March 11, 2019.
This
document provides an overview of the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) budget requests for their refugee, asylum and other
immigration-related responsibilities, and compares the requests to the
amounts enacted by Congress for FY
2019 and the President’s budget request for FY 2019.
Department
of State (DOS)
Migration
and Refugee Assistance: $365 million [FY 2019 Enacted Funding: $3.4 billion
(89 percent decrease); FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $2.8 billion (87
percent decrease)]. The Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account
historically provides funding for the protection and assistance of refugees,
conflict victims, stateless persons, and vulnerable migrants worldwide. The
President’s budget proposes to move overseas humanitarian assistance, which
accounted for about $2.4 billion in enacted funding in FY 2019, to the new
International Humanitarian Assistance (IHA) account. The MRA request includes
funding for the U.S. Refugee Admissions program, Humanitarian Migrants to
Israel (HMI) and the administrative expenses of the Bureau of Population,
Refugees, and Migration (PRM).
U.S.
Refugee Admissions Program: $320 million [FY 2018 Enacted
Funding (FY 2019 funding not available): $204 million (57 percent increase); FY
2019 President’s Budget Request: $395 million (19 percent decrease)]. This item
provides funding to enable international and non-governmental organizations to
help refugees and certain other categories of immigrants resettle in
communities across the U.S.
Overseas
Contingency Operations (OCO): $0 [FY 2019 Enacted Funding
(estimated): $2.4 billion; FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $0 (no change)].
As mentioned above, the President’s budget proposes to move overseas
humanitarian assistance to the new IHA account. The OCO account provides
overseas humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable populations and achieve
durable solutions for those displaced by conflict while providing support to
the communities that host them. It also funds contributions to multilateral
organizations, including UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), which address humanitarian needs overseas and
resettle refugees in the U.S. The President’s budget proposes to move these
responsibilities to the new IHA account.
International
Humanitarian Assistance (IHA): $6 billion [new funding item]. The
new IHA account would provide funding in response to “complex emergencies and
natural disasters around the world.” Funds in IHA would support overseas
humanitarian assistance, as well as programs of international organizations,
including UNHCR, ICRC and IOM. According to the President’s budget, the
new IHA account would be administered by United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and “enable the U.S. government to respond seamlessly to
ongoing as well as new humanitarian needs.”
Department
of Health and Human Services
Refugee
Programs: $1.8 billion [FY 2018 Enacted Funding (FY 2019 funding not available):
$2.1 billion (14 percent decrease); FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $1.9
billion (5 percent decrease)].
Unaccompanied
Alien Children: $1.3 billion [FY 2018 Enacted Funding:
$1.6 billion (19 percent decrease); FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $1.3
billion (no change)]. This funding item provides for the shelter, care and
placement of unaccompanied alien children who are referred to the Office of
Refugee Resettlement (ORR) after being apprehended at a border, port of entry
or in the interior of the U.S.
The President’s budget also
proposes a separate mandatory contingency fund of up to $2 billion in
additional resources over a three-year period to “ensure adequate shelter
capacity and care” for migrant children. The President’s budget states that
funding needed for this account has exceeded the program’s appropriated funds
in five of the last seven fiscal years.
Transitional
and Medical Services: $319 million [FY 2018 Enacted Funding:
$245 million (30 percent increase); FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $354
million (10 percent decrease)]. This item assists refugees and other eligible
new arrivals to “become self-supporting and assimilate to life in the United
States” by providing up to eight months of financial support and medical
assistance.
Refugee
Supportive Services: $151 million [FY 2018 Enacted Funding:
$202 million (25 percent decrease); FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $207
million (27 percent decrease)]. This item funds, in part, services by state
governments and nonprofit organizations assisting refugees and other eligible
new arrivals with employment training services.
Victims
of Trafficking: $17 million [FY 2018 Enacted Funding: $24
million (29 percent decrease); FY 2019 President’s Budget Request: $27 million
(37 percent decrease)]. This item includes funding for grant programs,
contracts and partnerships to screen and identify victims of trafficking and to
provide the victims with services.
Comments
the total budget
request for the giveaways planned for 2020 is $10.272 billion. The budget for
2019 is $10,483. I would rather have a
wall and a tight Immigration policy to eliminate most of this cost. This
request looks like it came from the Departments and Agencies, not from Trump.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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