The Trump administration released President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2019 on February 12, 2018. This document provides an overview of the President’s budget request for the Department of State (DOS) and Department of Health and Human Services’(HHS) refugee and immigration-related responsibilities, and compares the request to the amounts appropriated for FY 2017 and the President’s budget request for FY 2018.
Department of State (DOS)
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM): $2.8 billion [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $3.4 billion (18 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $2.75 billion (2 percent increase)]. This item provides funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and to resettle refugees in the U.S.
- Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO): $2 billion [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $2.1 billion (5 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $2 billion (No change)]. This item provides overseas humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable populations and achieve durable solutions for those displaced by conflict while providing support to the communities that host them.
- An estimated enduring request of $761 million will fund contributions to multilateral organizations, including UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which address humanitarian needs overseas and resettle refugees in the U.S.
- U.S. Refugee Admissions Program: $395 million [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $445 million (11 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $410 million (4 percent decrease)]. This item provides funding to enable international and non-governmental organizations to help refugees and certain other categories of immigrants resettle in communities across the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services
Refugee and Entrant Assistance: $1.7 billion [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $2.1 billion (19 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $1.5 billion (13 percent increase)].
- Unaccompanied Alien Children: $1.1 billion [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $1.4 billion (21 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $948 million (16 percent increase)]. This funding item provides for the shelter, care and placement of unaccompanied alien children who are referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) after being apprehended at a border, port of entry or in the interior of the U.S. HHS anticipates a potential increased demand for the program in the near-term, though it also notes that the administration’s deterrence of UAC migration is “successful.”
- This includes $100 million for a new Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Contingency Fund to provide access to additional funding that would allow HHS to accommodate higher-than-expected caseloads. HHS would be authorized to spend the funding on resources to satisfy the programmatic requirements for holding children in custody.
- Transitional and Medical Services: $354 million [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $490 million (28 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $320 million (11 percent increase)]. This program provides refugees and other eligible populations up to eight months financial aid and medical assistance to newly arrived refugees. This program also supplies resources for employment training and placement, case management services, and English language training.
- Refugee Support Services Program: $161 million [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $203 million (21 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $159 million (1 percent increase)]. The President’s budget request combines Refugee Targeted Assistance and Social Services programs into a new Refugee Support Services program. This item helps to fund state governments and private non-profit agencies assisting refugees with employment training services. The President’s budget request would be a $40 million (21 percent) cut when compared to the sum of funds proposed for the two original programs in FY 2018.
- Anti-Trafficking in Persons Program: $19 million [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $19 million (No change); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $19 million (No change)]. This item includes funding for grant programs, contracts and partnerships with government and non-government organizations.
- Refugee Health Promotion: $0 [FY 2017 Omnibus Enacted Discretionary Funding: $4.6 million (100 percent decrease); FY 2018 President’s Budget Request: $0 (No change)]. The President’s budget eliminates the Refugee Health Promotion program that provides resources to states to support health orientation and education, referrals to medical and mental health services, and access to on-going healthcare for refugees.