Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2023 Homeland Security Funding Bill

June 15, 2022
Press Release
Legislation provides funding to invest in smart, effective border security, meet humanitarian needs of migrants, and support programs proven to keep Americans safe

WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee today released the draft fiscal year 2023 Homeland Security funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation funds agencies, offices, and programs in the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For fiscal year 2023, the bill provides total funding of $85.67 billion, including $60.3 billion within the subcommittee’s funding allocation, $19.95 billion for major disaster response and recovery, and $5.4 billion that is offset by fee collections. The total within the subcommittee allocation is $2.7 billion above fiscal year 2022. The legislation:

  • Makes smart and effective investments in border security
  • Secures our critical infrastructure with dramatically increased funding to prevent cyber-attacks and root out cyber intrusions
  • Invests strongly in maritime security through funding for the Coast Guard
  • Supports a new pay system for TSA to ensure its personnel are paid salaries equivalent to other federal workers carrying out comparable work
  • Respects the dignity of immigrants with funding to improve migrant processing

“This bill provides balanced investments in the broad and diverse set of missions entrusted to the Department of Homeland Security. It provides significant new resources to improve the nation’s ability to prevent and respond to cyberattacks and threats to critical infrastructure, makes smart investments in border security and humanitarian efforts at the southern border, and continues the transition to a greater reliance on alternatives to detention and case management to ensure the integrity of our immigration laws while also treating migrants with respect and ensuring due process,” said Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40).  “The bill also continues the subcommittee’s consistently strong support for the Coast Guard and the Secret Service, provides increased resources for FEMA’s disaster response and recovery efforts, and funds a TSA initiative to pay its workforce at levels commensurate with other federal agencies and to extend other equivalent rights and protections.”

“The Homeland Security funding bill includes many of the federal programs critical to keeping our country safe,” Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “With this bill, we are securing our borders by funding smart and effective investments in technology and operations. We are respecting the dignity of children and families by making border processing quicker and more efficient and improving conditions in short-term holding facilities. From dramatic investments in our nation’s cyber infrastructure to prevent increasingly pervasive cyber-attacks to ensuring our Coast Guard has the tools it needs to protect our country from Russian aggression in the Arctic, this bill is key to bolstering our national security.”

A summary of the draft fiscal year 2023 Homeland Security bill is below. The text of the draft bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.

Bill Summary:

Management – The bill provides $2.78 billion for the Office of the Secretary, executive management, and the Management Directorate, an increase of $379.3 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $137.2 million above the President’s budget request. Funding under this category includes:

  • $200.7 million, as requested, for continued development of the DHS headquarters campus at St. Elizabeths.
  • $165 million for the construction of a third Joint Processing Center at the southern border.
  • $48.3 million for the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), an increase of $6.1 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $8.8 million above the request.
  • $28.6 million for the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman, an increase of $5.4 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $8.3 million above the request.
  • $30 million for the Alternatives to Detention Case Management Program, to be managed by FEMA and overseen by CRCL.
  • $3.5 million above the request for the Office of Inspector General.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – The bill recommends $15.74 billion, an increase of $893.8 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $338.1 million above the request, including the following increases above the Operations and Support (O&S) request:

  • $329.4 million to sustain programs funded above the request in FY 2022.
  • $120.2 million for an additional 250 Customs Officers, 500 technicians, and 500 mission support staff;
  • $15 million for innovative technology.
  • $3.5 million for rescue beacons and the Missing Migrant Program.
  • $15 million for an increase in the uniform allowance.
  • $.9 million for international affairs staffing.
  • $5 million for tribal roads.

Within the total amount provided for CBP O&S, the recommendation includes:

  • $89.8 million for preventing the importation of items made with forced labor.
  • $3 million for personnel childcare services.
  • $232.4 million for migrant medical care.
  • $40 million for innovative technology.
  • $5 million for personnel tuition assistance.
  • $17 million for zero trust architecture.
  • $20 million for the Unified Immigration Portal.
  • $23 million for onsite mental health clinicians.
  • $6 million for caregivers and childcare services.
  • $6 million for Carrizo cane control.
  • $44.9 million for the Incident Driven Video Recording System, including body worn cameras and related requirements for Freedom of Information Act compliance and data storage.
  • $10 million for video monitoring capabilities.
  • $10 million for port of entry technology.
  • $6 million for financial analytics.

Increases above the request for Procurement, Construction, and Improvements (PC&I) including:

  • $100 million for border technology.
  • $20 million for innovative technology.
  • $50 million for Non-Intrusive Inspection technology at points of entry (POEs).

This FY 2023 spending bill also:

  • Authorizes the use of up to $100 million in prior year border barrier construction funding that becomes available through de-obligation in FY 2023 or future years for mitigation activities, including land acquisition, and authorizes the transfer of such funds to the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture.
  • Authorizes additional uses for prior year border barrier construction funding.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – The bill provides $8.4 billion in discretionary appropriations for ICE, $138.1 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $296.4 million above the President’s budget request, including:

  • $2.46 billion for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an increase of $193.9 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level and $131.2 million above the request, including increases above the request of:
    • $9.8 million for investigations associated with non-intrusive vehicle inspections at ports of entry.
    • $12.8 million to combat cyber-crime.
    • $6.9 million for child exploitation investigations.
    • $9 million for the HERO Child-Rescue Corps.
    • $24.1 million for HSI task forces.
    • $2 million for the Center for Countering Human Trafficking.
  • $3.92 billion for Enforcement and Removal Operations, $252.4 million below the 2022 enacted level and $121.2 million above the request, including increases above the request of:
    • $20 million to enhance legal access in detention facilities.
    • $40 million to improve detainee phone access.
    • $10 million for ATD increases and program costs.
    • $20 million for the Young Adult Case Management Program.
    • $10 million for the Secure Docket Program.
  • The bill also includes $35 million for the ICE body worn camera program.
  • It funds an average daily population of 25,000 single adults in detention, consistent with the budget request.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) – The bill includes $9.77 billion for TSA, an increase of $1.28 billion above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $280 million below the request, of which $2.8 billion is offset by passenger security and vetting fee collections. Increases above the request include:

  • $6.9 million to maintain the Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response Team program (VIPR).
  • $94.1 million to restore funding for TSA security coverage at certain airport exit lanes.
  • $4 million to restore FY22 pipeline security funding.
  • The bill also provides $615.8 million to support a TSA initiative to pay its workforce at levels commensurate with other federal agencies and to extend other equivalent rights and protections.

Coast Guard – The bill includes $13.36 billion for the Coast Guard, an increase of $903.5 million above the 2022 enacted level and $777.6 million above the request, as follows:

  • $9.75 billion for Operations and Support, an increase of $589.3 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $131.4 million above the request. Increases above the request include:
    • $15 million to support personnel, including retention and recruitment; child care subsidies; and critical housing maintenance projects.
    • $26.6 million for operational and asset readiness, including deployability of helicopters on cutters and aircraft parts inventory and communications upgrades.
    • $4 million for environmental compliance and restoration projects and $6 million for Commercial Fishing Vessel and Safety Grants.
  • $2.3 billion for Procurement, Construction, and Improvements, including:
    • $650 million for the Offshore Patrol Cutter program.
    • $257 million for the Polar Security Cutter (PSC) program, including $90 million for long lead time materials for a 3rd PSC.
    • $147 million for the National Security Cutter (NSC) program, including $87 million above the request for NSCs 10 and 11.
    • $131 million for the Fast Response Cutter program.
    • $125 million for a commercially available polar icebreaker.
    • $128.5 million for an HC-130J aircraft.
    • $186 million for shore facilities and major construction programs.
    • $77 million to begin recapitalization of the nation’s inland tenders and barges.
    • $19.7 million for priority information technology systems and hyperbaric recompression chambers for Coast Guard divers.

United States Secret Service (USSS) – The bill recommends $2.73 billion, an increase of $115.6 million above FY 2022 and $24 million above the request, including:

  • $5 million for the National Threat Assessment Center.
  • $5 million for radios and hubs.
  • $12 million for updated planning and design for a White House-training facility.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – The bill includes $2.93 billion for CISA, an increase of $334.1million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $417.1 million above the request, including increases above the request of:

  • $ 235.4 million for cybersecurity.
  • $46.1 million for infrastructure security.
  • $22.5 million for emergency communications.
  • $41.2 million for integrated operations.
  • $41.6 million for risk management operations.
  • $16.2 million for stakeholder engagement and requirements.
  • $14.1 million for mission support activities.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – The bill includes $25.89 billion for FEMA, $1.73 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level and $771.3 million above the request. The total provided includes the following:

  • $4.05 billion for grants and training, an increase of $418.9 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $521.6 million above the request, including:
    • $615 million for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI).
    • $520 million for the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP).
    • $360 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, an increase of $110 million above FY 2022.
    • $740 million for firefighter grants, an increase of $20 million above FY 2022.
    • $100 million for Port Security Grants.
    • $105 million for Transit Security Grants.
    • $370 million for Emergency Management Performance Grants, an increase of $15 million above FY 2022.
    • $280 million for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, including $130 million for the base program and $150 million for humanitarian assistance at the border.
    • $40 million for the Next Generation Warning System.
    • $20 million via transfer from the Office of the Secretary and Executive Management (OSEM) for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grants.
    • $20 million via transfer from OSEM for Alternatives to Detention Case Management Program grants, an increase of $5 million above fiscal year 2022.
  • $19.95 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund for responding to major disasters, $1.15 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level and $205 million above the request.
  • The recommendation consolidates grant funding for nonprofit security for both state and urban area programs into a new Nonprofit Security Grant program (NSGP). Funding for NSGP had previously been funded as a part of the SHSGP and UASI programs.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ­– The bill includes $683.3 million for USCIS, an increase of $273.8 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $230.3 below the request.  The total includes $30 million for the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, an increase of $10 million above FY 2022.

  • This bill includes increases for the refugee and asylum programs and to reduce immigrant application backlogs.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) – The bill provides $396.5 million for FLETC, $40.9 million above the FY 2022 enacted level equal to the request.

Science and Technology (S&T) – The bill includes $963.8 million for S&T, an increase of $77.4 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $62.5 million above the request. The total includes:

  • $477.4 million for Research, Development, and Innovation, equal to the FY 2022 enacted level and $69.7 million above the request.
  • $45.88 million for University Centers of Excellence, as requested.
  • $7.7 million for the Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Program, an increase of $2.5 million above the request.

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) – The bill includes $429 million for CWMD, $23 million below the FY 2022 enacted level and equal to the request.

  • The reduction below the FY 2022 level is primarily attributable to the transfer of the Chief Medical Officer and related activities to the Office of the Secretary and Executive Management.

Policy Provisions – The FY 2023 Homeland Security funding bill:

  • Prohibits the use of DHS funding to detain or remove an individual based on information provided in the context of an application to sponsor an unaccompanied child or based on information gathered in therapy sessions with such children.
  • Ensures access by Members of Congress to detention facilities.
  • Requires goals and metrics reporting for pilot programs.
  • Requires Homeland Security Investigations to focus on criminal investigations by prohibiting its engagement in civil immigration enforcement activities except with probable cause that an individual who is the subject of such enforcement has committed a criminal offense not solely related to immigration status.
  • Establishes that the allowance paid to detained individuals for work performed in detention facilities may not be less than the federal minimum wage.

Prohibits the use of DHS funds to deny admission or a benefit to an individual solely on the basis of marijuana use or possession for personal use.

Subcommittees: 
The Department of Homeland Security (117th Congress)
117th Congress