The political firestorm over immigration continues to rage, with former President Donald Trump taking aim at Vice President Kamala Harris over a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiative. Trump has condemned the use of taxpayer dollars to erect billboards in Texas offering free legal services to undocumented immigrants in federal custody.
“Kamala [Harris] is now running billboards near the Border advertising FREE Legal Services for Illegal Alien Criminals. When I win, the billboards are coming down, and the Migrant Gangs are going home!” Trump declared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The billboards, placed by the DHS’s Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO), aim to provide information about the rights of immigrants in detention. The OIDO, established in 2019, serves as an independent oversight body for immigration detention facilities, ensuring adherence to detention standards and addressing complaints from detainees. However, the billboards have sparked a backlash from Republicans, who see them as counterproductive to border security efforts.
The billboards read, “Your brother in immigration custody has rights, we’re here to help,” and have been criticized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol officials, who are already facing a strain on resources due to the ongoing border crisis. They argue that the billboards undermine their efforts and feel like an insult given the challenges they are facing.
Texas lawmakers have joined Trump in condemning the billboards, with Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, calling them “alarming.” “The news that DHS is using taxpayer money to launch billboards advocating ‘rights’ for individuals in ‘immigration custody’ should be alarming because it’s a preview of the legal arguments that radical progressive democrats will use to argue against deportation of the millions dumped in America by Biden-Harris-Mayorkas,” Roy stated.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, echoed Roy’s concerns. “Time and again, we’ve seen DHS put an open borders agenda ahead of its mission to safeguard American families,” Gonzales said. “Whether it’s FEMA splurging hundreds of millions of dollars on migrant housing or OIDO running ads like this, our government is hemorrhaging money on the wrong priorities. It’s time for Congress to pull the plug on programs like these.”
The controversy over the billboards reflects the heightened tensions surrounding immigration as the 2024 election draws near. Immigration has become a top issue for voters, fueled by the massive border crisis that began in 2021. The Biden administration has requested additional funding to address what it considers a “broken” immigration system and, along with Vice President Harris, has advocated for bipartisan border security legislation.
The administration points to a 55% decrease in border encounters since a presidential order issued in June, but critics highlight the historically high encounter numbers in previous years. Trump, on the other hand, has pledged to reinstate Trump-era border policies, including mass deportation and the construction of a border wall, which were discontinued by the Biden administration. The battle over the billboards in Texas is just the latest flashpoint in the ongoing national debate over immigration, underscoring the urgency and complexity of this issue in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.
