Young Joins Republican Colleagues to Block Taxpayer-Funded Payments to Illegal Immigrants

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 to block any taxpayer payments to illegal immigrants. According to media reports, the Biden Administration reportedly considered a plan to provide as much as $450,000 per person in taxpayer money for settlements for illegal immigrants.

“Instead of discouraging illegal entry into the United States, if left unchecked the Biden-Harris Administration could hand illegal immigrants a winning lottery ticket. This half-baked scheme is an insult to hardworking Americans who will never see a check that large and the servicemen and women who put their lives on the line for far less,” said Senator Young.

“Biden’s open border policies have reached a new crazy level. Montana families are struggling with inflation and skyrocketing costs on everything from gas to groceries because of Biden’s wasteful spending policies, and now the President wants to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants. Because of Biden, our southern border has been taken over by Mexican cartels and this effort will only continue to incentivize illegal immigration making it worse. This is a gut punch to the American taxpayer,” said Senator Daines. 

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senators Young and Daines in introducing this amendment.

For amendment text, click here.

Senators Young and Daines also introduced the measure as a standalone bill. For bill text, click here.