The Cost of Immigration - Government Spending On Immigration
The Department of Homeland Security Budget
A recent contributor to immigration costs has been the stepped-up border security measures since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On October 18, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the fiscal year (FY) 2005 Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The $40.2 billion budget as proposed by the president for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) represented a 10% increase in funding over the previous year.
Included in the FY 2005 budget were increases targeted for specific initiatives. New funding amounting to $419.2 million was designated to enhance border and port security activities, including the detection of individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States. Another substantial increase was $179 million for improvements in immigration enforcement both domestically and overseas, including $123 million for the detention and removal of illegal aliens. The remaining $56 million in additional funding would be used to detect and locate individuals in the United States in violation of immigration laws or engaged in immigration-related fraud. Another $160 million in total resources was devoted to continuing progress toward a six-month processing time for all immigration applications and reducing the backlog of applications. A total of $340 million was allocated to the continued expansion of the US-VISIT program. Direct immigration-related functions received 30% of the total DHS budget; Customs and Border Patrol, 15%; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 10%; Citizenship and Immigration, 4%; and US-VISIT, 1%. (See Table 6.9.)
TABLE 6.9
Department of Homeland Security FY 2005 budget [Dollars in millions]
| Organization | FY 2003 | FY 2004b | FY 2005 | (+/−) Change FY 2004 to FY 2005 |
| Security, enforcement & investigations | 21,566 | 22,606 | 24,691 | 2,085 |
| BTS Under Secretary | 0 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| US VISIT | 380 | 328 | 340 | 12 |
| Bureau of Customs & Border Protection | 5,887 | 5,942 | 6,199 | 257 |
| Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement | 3,262 | 3,654 | 4,011 | 357 |
| Transportation Security Administration | 4,648 | 4,405 | 5,297 | 892 |
| United States Coast Guard | 6,196 | 6,935 | 7,471 | 536 |
| United States Secret Service | 1,193 | 1,334 | 1,363 | 29 |
| Preparedness & recovery | 5,175 | 5,493 | 7,372 | 1,879 |
| EP&R Federal Emergency Management Agency (less Biodefense)a | 5,175 | 4,608 | 4,844 | 236 |
| Biodefense | 0 | 885 | 2,528 | 1,643 |
| Research, Development, Training, Assessments & Services | 2,330 | 3,591 | 3,810 | 219 |
| Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services | 1,422 | 1,653 | 1,711 | 58 |
| Federal Law Enforcement Training Center | 170 | 191 | 196 | 5 |
| Information Analysis & Infrastructure Protection Directorate | 185 | 834 | 864 | 30 |
| Science & Technology Directorate | 553 | 913 | 1,039 | 126 |
| Departmental management and operations | 2,111 | 4,851 | 4,294 | −557 |
| Departmental Management | 2,040 | 4,771 | 4,212 | −559 |
| Departmental operations | 22 | 211 | 405 | 194 |
| Technology investments | 47 | 184 | 226 | 42 |
| Counter-Terrorism Fund | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 |
| Office for Domestic Preparedness | 1,961 | 4,366 | 3,561 | −805 |
| Inspector General | 71 | 80 | 82 | 2 |
| Total | 31,182 | 36,541 | 40,167 | 3,626 |
| aFY 2003 includes supplemental funding for EP&R: FEMA ($1,426 M); all other supplemental funding has been excluded. | ||||
| bFY 2004 total excludes war supplemental funding. | ||||
| *Other includes: BTS Under Secretary, Office of the Inspector General, Departmental Operations, Department-wide Technology Investments and Counterterrorism Fund. | ||||
U.S. Aid for Refugees
U.S. refugee policy has been based on the premise that the care of refugees and other conflict victims as well as the pursuit of permanent solutions for refugee crises are shared international responsibilities. The more refugees assist in their home regions, the fewer that might ultimately require resettlement outside those regions. Following this philosophy, the U.S. Department
TABLE 6.10
Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) program summary, FY 2001–03 [Dollars in thousands]
| FY 2001 actual | FY 2002 estimatec | FY 2003 requestc | Increase or decrease (−) | |
| Overseas assistance | $ 531,270 | $ 537,000 | $ 524,000 | $ (13,000) |
| Africa | 190,900 | 195,600 | 195,600 | 0 |
| East Asiab | 21,223 | 15,800 | 15,500 | (300) |
| Europeb | 104,153 | 88,000 | 77,000 | (11,000) |
| Near East/North Africa | 106,959 | 103,400 | 103,400 | 0 |
| South Asiab | 35,840 | 45,500 | 45,500 | 0 |
| Western hemisphere | 13,626 | 15,000 | 14,700 | (300) |
| Multiregional activitiesb | 58,569 | 57,700 | 56,600 | (1,100) |
| Migrationa | 16,000 | 15,700 | (300) | |
| Refugee admissionb | 92,854 | 92,000 | 105,000 | 13,000 |
| Refugees to Israel | 59,868 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 0 |
| Administrative expenses | 15,010 | 16,556 | 16,565 | 9 |
| Appropriation totalb | $699,002 | $705,556 | $705,565 | 9 |
| aIn FY 2000 and FY 2001, funds for migration activities were included within the individual overseas assistance regions. In FY 2002, they will be separated out into a new overseas assistance category. | ||||
| bOf the $622.6 million appropriated in FY 2000, $21.0 million was not made available until September 30, 2000. These funds have been allotted in FY 2001 as follows: $1 million for overseas. Assistance in East Asia, $3.6 million for overseas assistance in Europe, $250,000 for overseas assistance in South Asia, $1.5 million for multiregional activities, and $14.7 million for refugee admissions. This $21 million is included in the FY 2002 column of the chart above. | ||||
| cThe FY 2002 and FY 2003 levels above do not reflect current program estimates for overseas assistance and refugee admissions. The current level for both years for overseas assistance is $499 million and for refugee admissions is $130 million. | ||||
of State annually contributes to overseas assistance funds administered by international organizations and nongovernmental organizations that carry out relief services.
In its report Migration and Refugee Assistance: Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance, Fiscal Year 2003 (http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/rpt/2002/14280.htm), the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) projected a decrease of $13 million in Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) in FY 2003 over FY 2002. The report noted that after September 11, 2001, refugee admissions were suspended (until December 10, 2001) and case adjudications were disrupted while security procedures were tightened. A slow recovery in the number of admissions was anticipated during subsequent years. The report also noted that new security procedures had significantly increased the per capita cost of the refugee program. The cost of refugee admissions in 2001 was $92.8 million and rose to $105 million in the FY 2003 budget request. (See Table 6.10.)
Funding for overseas assistance was a major part (71%) of the MRA budget. This compares to the 15%
FIGURE 6.7
Migration and refugee assistance, FY 2003 budget request
2005 Budget Allocations for Overseas Refugee Relief
According to Funding Actions Finalized with Organizations (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, February 9, 2005), PRM committed a total of $13.9 million to four specific refugee-related programs in FY 2005:
- $562,500—International Catholic Migration Commission, for the initial funding for oversees processing in Turkey, 10/1/04–9/30/05
- $578,000—Shelter for Life, to support permanent water supply system development in Iraq, 1/1/05–12/31/05
- $9,452,053—United Israel Appeal, to facilitate resettlement and integration of humanitarian migrants to Israel, 10/1/04–9/30/05
- $2,720,000—World Food Program, to support provision of returnee food rations in Burundi, 11/1/04–10/31/05
In a January 31, 2005, press release ("U.S. Contributes $125 Million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/41400.htm), the U.S. Department of State announced an initial contribution of $125 million to the UNHCR for 2005 Annual Programs. The funds were allocated as follows:
- Africa—$50.0 million
- Near East—$2.9 million
- Europe—$14.1 million
- South Asia—$20.3 million
- East Asia—$5.2 million
- Western Hemisphere—$4.6 million
- Global Operations and Reserves—$27.9 million
Refugee Resettlement Expenses
As reported in the State Department's International Information Programs Washington File, Arthur "Gene" Dewey, Assistant Secretary of State for Refugees, told a group of international journalists in November 2004 that "[t]he United States did its share, more than its share, really" (Charlene Porter, "United States Leads World in Refugee Resettlement," November 26, 2004). He went on to say that the United States accepted more refugees than the ten other countries involved in resettlement, offering a new start to 54% of the world's refugees resettled in fiscal year 2004. (The other nations with refugee resettlement programs were Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.)
Dewey noted that resettlement of refugees had become far more complicated in recent times. "Now we receive refugees from about forty-six different locations, much smaller clusters around the world," Dewey said. "And there are about sixty different nationalities." In addition, the threat of terrorism since 2001 has made U.S. officials more cautious in the evaluation of candidates for resettlement in the United States.
These combined factors increased the cost of resettlement significantly, according to Dewey. The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration reported that U.S. costs of resettlement for fiscal year 2004 were $3,500 per refugee admitted, compared to $2,200 in 2001. The almost 60% increase created what Dewey called a "funding impediment," which he predicted could curtail the resettlement effort in fiscal year 2005.
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