There sure is a lot of money for protecting Donald Trump and his residences, for the War on Drugs and the DEA (under a bunch of different headings) and for ICE. Some things that caught my eye:
- $41,000,000 exclusively for providing reimbursement of extraordinary law enforcement personnel costs for protection activities directly and demonstrably associated with any residence of Donald Trump that is designated or identified to be secured by the United States Secret Service. (This is under FEMA).
- $20,000,000 is for the sole purpose of
providing reimbursement of extraordinary law enforcement and related costs directly associated with protecting Donald Trump incurred from November 9, 2016 until the inauguration
- In addition to the DEA's 2.1 billion budget, it is getting money from other sections. Under COPS (community policing), the DEA gets $10 million for anti-meth activities. It's also getting $70 million "to meet unforeseen emergencies of a confidential character" under 28 USC 503C.
- 517,000,000 is provided to fight trans-national drug and money laundering cartel activity which can be shared with state and local enforcement.
- $998,800,000 is for the Defense Department for drug interdiction and counter-drug activities. Of that, 626,087,000 is for salary of military personnel of the reserve components. $234,000,000 is for the National Guard's counter-drug program, and $20,000,000 is for the National Guard's counter-drug schools program. There's also $118,713,000 for the "drug demand reduction program." (Sounds like "Just Say No"). This is in addition to $103,000,000 for "comprehensive opioid abuse reduction activities."
- $10 million in grants to state law enforcement in states with high numbers of opiate and heroin admissions, which can only be used to investigate
and locate offenders
- $391,253,000 for Colombia counter-narcotics programs, especially organizations designated as "foreign terrorist organizations pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality
11 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), and other criminal or illegal armed groups." There's also money for airplanes for drug eradication and interdiction activities and associated security costs.
- ICE, ICE and More ICE: $65,400,000 for "improving hiring processes for Border Patrol Agents, Customs Officers, and Air and Marine personnel, and for relocation enhancements. $48,198,000 for "surge operations."
- Even more ICE: $236,908,000, of which $147,870,000 is for custody operations (detention), $31,646,000 is for transportation and removal operations and $57,392,000 is for alternatives to detention.
- The Border Wall: $341,200,000 to replace approximately 40 miles of existing fence. $77,400,000 for new border road construction. $78,800,000 for "acquisition and deployment 11 of border security technology."
- No funds for closing "or realigning" Guantanamo or transferring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee held after June, 2009.
- BOP cannot use funds to purchase cable TV services for inmates for recreational purposes.
- No funds can be used to pay for an abortion, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or in the case of rape or incest.
One positive portion is the extension on the prohibition of expending federal funds for medical marijuana enforcement activities in states where its legal and the targets are in compliance with state law. The list of states grows every year:
SEC. 537. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North, Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.
Democrats are actually proud of this budget. I think the excessive authorizations for the War on Drugs and ICE and Border Protection are shameful. We could be using those billions for health care, education, social security, our decaying infra-structures, protecting the environment and so many other more worthy causes.
