House Passes Bill Blocking Federal Funds for Housing Illegal Immigrants

Dozens of illegal immigrants camp outside New York's Roosevelt Hotel, which has been made into a reception center, as they try to secure temporary housing in New York City on Aug. 1, 2023. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The House passed a bill on Nov. 30 that would prohibit federal funding toward housing illegal aliens on land managed by federal land management agencies.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), passed 224–203, with one voting “present.”

The Protecting Our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023 would block federal taxpayer dollars for “housing to specified aliens on any land under the administrative jurisdiction of the federal land management agencies, including through leases, contracts, or agreements.” This includes the Forest Service, National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

The bill would also revoke the lease between the federal government and New York City for Floyd Bennett Field, where scores of illegal migrants were due to be settled, though some left after arriving there.

The legislation passed the House Committee on Natural Resources on Oct. 26 in a bipartisan vote.

An amendment introduced by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) that would permit “the Interior Secretary to provide housing when the originating state has failed to meet certain criteria” failed, 206–223, with one voting “present.”

“Turning our federal parks into encampments for unvetted migrants from all over the world is unfair to surrounding communities and the taxpayers being forced to foot the bill while having their public spaces taken away,” said Ms. Malliotakis in a statement.

Ms. Malliotakis celebrated the passage of her bill.

“My bill to STOP Biden-Hochul-Adams from housing migrants in our federal parks has just passed the House with bipartisan support! Now it’s your turn Senator Schumer—do the right thing!” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.

It is unlikely the Democrat-controlled Senate will take up her bill.

Additionally, the White House has come out in opposition to Ms. Malliotakis’s bill.

In a statement of administration policy, the Office of Management and Budget said the bill “would significantly restrict the ability of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to make decisions regarding the appropriate uses of their lands and resources, even in emergency or other situations.”

The bill is not the only one introduced by Ms. Malliotakis to not allow federal funding to go toward housing illegal aliens.

She introduced legislation in September to prohibit federal taxpayer dollars from housing illegal immigrants on U.S. military installations.

These bills come as Republican governors in the South, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have sent illegal migrants to left-wing cities, including New York City, Chicago, and Washington.