On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the No Taxpayer Funds for Illegal Immigrant Identity Cards Act, barring President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using taxpayers’ dollars to issue identity cards to illegal immigrants.
“Joe Biden opened the border and ushered in an era of unprecedented chaos in the U.S. And, now, rather than getting the crisis under control, he wants to use Americans’ money to fund ID cards for illegals,” said Senator Hawley. “Enough. Biden should be deporting illegal immigrants and securing our border—not giving them IDs and making it easier for them to take advantage of taxpayer benefits.”
Under a new DHS initiative set to launch this summer, the ICE Secure Docket Card Program is poised to provide thousands of illegal immigrants with “Secure Docket Cards” featuring a photograph and biographical information. These identity cards risk enabling illegal immigrants to exploit certain privileges and government benefits, such as housing, healthcare, or transportation—all at American taxpayers’ expense—while incentivizing more illegal immigration into the country.
The No Taxpayer Funds for Illegal Immigrant Identity Cards Act would:
- Restrict the DHS Secretary from using taxpayer funds to establish the ICE Secure Docket Card program or any other program that would provide taxpayer-funded identity cards to illegal immigrants.
- Require the DHS Inspector General to report any costs associated with the ICE Secure Docket Card program or any other program that would provide taxpayer-funded identity cards to illegal immigrants.
Senator Hawley previously raised concerns over the Biden Administration’s carelessness concerning illegal immigrants’ use of identification forms in a 2022 letter to the Transportation Security Administration. He demanded answers about illegal aliens using arrest warrants and notices of deportation as valid identification to pass checkpoints and board commercial airplanes.
