Homeland security leaders welcome Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal

President Donald Trump delivered on Monday his Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Budget to Congress, which requests $47.5 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a 7.8 percent increase from the FY 2018 President’s Budget.

“The budget demonstrates the Department’s commitment to strengthening our border security and our enforcement of immigration laws,” DHS said in a statement.

For FY 2019, DHS proposed $1.6 billion for the construction of 65 miles of new border wall system, $164 million to support the hiring of 750 new Border Patrol Agents and 153 support personnel.

The budget provides $5.1 billion for enforcement and removal operations, $571 million for an additional 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement officers and 1,312 support personnel as well as funding to support the continued expansion of the E-Verify program. The budgets provide $1.9 billion for the recapitalization of U.S. Coast Guard assets.

The FY 2019 Budget provides approximately $1 billion for initiatives that address cyber system vulnerabilities and protect federal networks and as well as $319 million for critical infrastructure protection.

“President Trump again demonstrated his commitment to a safe and secure America in this budget proposal,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said. “The President continues to make cybersecurity and border security top priorities. His emphasis on strengthening our cybersecurity operations at the Department of Homeland Security is critical in countering our highly sophisticated cyber adversaries, and his steadfast promise to build a wall along our southern border and provide additional resources in technology, infrastructure, and personnel will better protect our homeland and citizens.”