Trump to take down DHS-funded billboards advocating for free legal services for illegal border crossers if elected

"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 wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) has set up billboards in Texas saying: "Your brother in immigration custody has rights, we’re here to help,” according to Fox News. The OIDO is an independent office where complaints can be made about the conditions at immigrant detention centers. The DHS says Congress created the ombudsman “to independently examine immigration detention to promote safe and humane conditions, including addressing complaints related to the conditions of noncitizens in immigration detention."

However, Fox News says sources within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are telling the news outlet that they are livid with DHS for spending money on aid to illegal immigrants while the federal department can’t find money in its budget to enforce border security. The sources tell Fox that it is “insulting” to have billboards implying illegal immigrants aren't having their rights respected by border guards. Some legislators have publicly condemned the billboards.

"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," Rep. Chip Roy, (R-TX), said.

"Time and again, we’ve seen DHS put an open borders agenda ahead of its mission to safeguard American families," Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) echoed Roy’s objections. "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."

Border security remains a top issue for Americans with the presidential and Congressional elections just days away. An open letter from 200 DHS officials endorsed Trump for president because they said he was the only candidate willing to enforce border security. Trump has committed himself to mass deportations of illegal immigrants if he is reelected as president. According to an October NPR/PBS/Marist poll, 59 percent of Americans support the deportation of illegal immigrants.

According to a report from the Washington DC-based non-profit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), federal, state and municipal governments paid $150 billion for costs surrounding illegal immigration in 2023.