According to U.S. media reports, due to serious disagreements between the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. Congress over funding for the Obama administration's new immigration policy, the U.S. Senate failed to pass the new fiscal year budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) again on the 23rd. Currently, the DHS has only enough funding to last until the 27th of this month. If the new budget is not passed by then, the department will face the dilemma of a shutdown and unpaid leave, and some important law enforcement and disaster relief departments will be "cut off from funding".
In Obama's view, immigration reform is in line with the requirements of the Bible, while Republicans are concerned about the impact of this move on the welfare of Americans. Following healthcare reform, immigration reform has become another controversial decree pushed by Obama. On November 20 last year, Obama bypassed Congress to announce an immigration reform plan, under which illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than 5 years and whose children are U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents will be protected from deportation.
According to this new policy, at least 4 million illegal immigrants who meet the "protection from deportation" criteria can legally reside in the United States for 3 years and obtain work permits if they register with the government, pass criminal and national security background checks, and are willing to pay taxes.
The U.S. Congress is severely divided over this reform plan. In January this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a new budget plan for the Department of Homeland Security totaling $40 billion, but in order to block Obama, Republicans specifically added a provision to the budget prohibiting the use of funds for immigration reform. Unexpectedly, although the Senate is also controlled by the Republicans, the aforementioned provision was rejected by a narrow margin of 46 to 47 in a vote on Monday night.
CNN commented that due to serious disagreements between members of the House and Senate, it is already difficult for this budget to be passed within 4 days. The Huffington Post pointed out that after the Department of Homeland Security shuts down, patrol officers will continue to patrol airports, borders, and waters, but serious hidden dangers will still exist outside the public eye.
Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson pointed out that employees of the Department of Homeland Security will not be able to receive salaries during the shutdown, local law enforcement and firefighters will be unable to conduct training, and funding for disaster relief in various places will also be interrupted. If the Department of Homeland Security's budget cannot be passed, the biggest blow will be to Obama's new immigration policy and the survival rights of 4 million illegal immigrants.
