U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) offered an amendment last week that would transfer $15 million from a Democrat-led effort giving undocumented immigrants legal assistance to a program that provides grants to criminal justice systems across the country.
The motion was introduced on Friday during the debate on an appropriations bill in front of the House.
In the Democrats’ bill, there is a $15 million pilot program that would give grants for organizations that “provide legal representation to immigrants arriving at the southwest border seeking asylum and other forms of legal protection in the United States.”
Aderholt argued that his motion “rejects the cause of any defunding of any police programs, and it increases the support for the many vital and compassionate missions of state and local law enforcement officers.”
The program to which Aderholt’s amendment would have redirected the $15 million is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.
The Byrne JAG program is named after former New York Police Department officer Eddie Byrne, who was killed in the line of duty in 1987.
“In our nation, the fair administration of justice demands that competent and effective public defenders are a part of the system. Our annual Byrne JAG appropriations help to uphold this fundamental principle,” Aderholt told his colleagues while speaking on the House floor.
The JAG program bills itself as the “leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.” Among the common uses listed for the funds are law enforcement, drug treatment and mental health initiatives.
United States law has long allowed for those in the country illegally to be represented by a lawyer, but never at the expense of the federal taxpayers.
“Madam speaker, our immigration laws are clear, and they prohibit taxpayer funds from being used to provide lawyers to unauthorized aliens,” stated Aderholt on Friday.
“Furthermore, an annual appropriations bill is no place to debate or overturn immigration law,” he continued.
Aderholt’s motion gained the support of all present Republican members and 12 Democrats, but ultimately did not pass by a vote of 197-219.
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Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
